The Medical and Surgical Department of Digestive Diseases and Minimally Invasive HPB Fellowship at IMM.

The Medical and Surgical Department at the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris combines all the medical and surgical specialists in digestive diseases to work together on the same team and in the same unit. It represents a novel approach to the care of the patient with pathology of the digestive system. A Minimally Invasive HPB Fellowship was created in 2006 because of the vast laparoscopic experience at this institution. It is the first such fellowship listed on the IHPBA website and appears to be the first of its kind. For surgeons interested in pursuing a career in minimally invasive HPB surgery, it is currently accepted that expertise in both laparoscopy and HPB surgery have been the only means to gain the ability to tackle advanced procedures in this complex field. However, as young surgeons continue to get an earlier exposure to more and more complex minimally invasive procedures during residency, the need to perform two fellowships may be eliminated and more centers like IMM may permit graduating residents to become experts in this field in 1 year.