Residency in Colon and Rectal Surgery is offered to candidates who have completed five years of General Surgery Residency and are certified or eligible for examination by the American Board of Surgery. The program is supervised by five board-certified colon and rectal surgeons. Two residency positions are available for this one-year training program, which is fully accredited.

Residents participate in the evaluation and treatment of colon and rectal surgical patients in both office and hospital settings. They perform abdominal and pelvic colonic surgery, as well as anorectal surgery.

A Gastrointestinal Laboratory with video endoscopic equipment forms the basis for teaching colonoscopy and endoscopic polypectomy. A Pelvic Physiology Laboratory is maintained with a computerized anal manometric system for the diagnosis and treatment of anorectal physiologic disorders, including constipation and incontinence. Transrectal ultrasound is also utilized for incontinence, as well as for staging rectal cancer.

The Colon and Rectal Surgery Program offers residents the opportunity to develop research and educational skills. The in-house Northeast Pennsylvania Inflammatory Bowel Disease Registry provides residents with access to research data to enhance their knowledge of patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Through affiliation with Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine, there is an opportunity for bench research focused on inflammatory bowel disease. The John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center promotes the multidisciplinary treatment of colon cancer with radiation therapy and chemotherapy through the expertise of a team of cancer specialists.

Residents are required to attend weekly departmental and divisional conferences, including Grand Rounds, Surgical Morbidity & Mortality, and Colon/Rectal Tumor Board. A general surgery resident rotates on the colon and rectal service, giving the colon and rectal surgery resident ample opportunity for enhanced learning through teaching.

The Community Health and Health Studies Department is available to assist residents with research projects leading to publication. Residents are required to present one paper at the quarterly meeting of the Pennsylvania Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and are encouraged to present a paper at the national meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Please e-mail us if you require more information about the Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program or call the program director for Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency at (610) 402-8966.

To fill out an application: click here.