About the Program

The Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship in the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Surgery is dedicated to training fellows to be academic surgical leaders in the field of surgical education, research and simulation.

This program also consists of close relationships with the Codman Center for Clinical Effectiveness, the Procedural Learning and Safety Collaborative and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. These relationships, along with others in Boston and across the country, have helped fellows pursue research projects in a variety of areas that bridge education, outcomes and technology.

This program can be one to two years in length depending on the fellow’s career aspirations and available financial resources.

As part of the Consortium of American College of Surgeons (ACS) Accredited Institutes, this fellowship program consists of high-quality formal didactic and hands-on training with regular feedback and mentorship.

Goals

Graduates of the Surgical Education Research and Simulation Fellowship will be able to:

  • Conceive, develop and run simulation-based training and evaluation modules
  • Create, administer and evaluate new simulation programs/centers
  • Critically appraise and/or conduct simulation-based medical education research
  • Describe the theoretical and scientific foundations of simulation-based medical/surgical education

Research Areas

Fellows will be able to learn about various research topics, including:

  • Adult learning theories
  • Assessment of education outcomes
  • Emotional intelligence development
  • Enhancing medical student exposure to surgery
  • Linking resident education to patient outcomes / satisfaction
  • Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based assessment
  • Resident burnout prevention
  • Resident clinical prioritization skills
  • Simulation-based skills training
  • Video-based education and coaching

Coursework

Fellows are expected to publish at least two manuscripts during the program.

The didactic training includes coursework through the Center for Medical Simulation Instructors Course and the Harvard Macy Institute in the following courses:

  • A Systems Approach to Assessment
  • Leading Innovations in Health Care and Education
  • Program for Educators in Health Professions

Specific information about each of these courses can be provided by request.

Curriculum

The Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship at Mass General provides the fellow with didactic and mentored training that encompasses:

  • Administration and leadership
  • Curriculum design and evaluation
  • Educational theory
  • Faculty development
  • Learner and program evaluation, and
  • Technology support and simulation.

Our existing simulation-based education fellowship curriculum is particularly robust and culminates in a Teaching and Learning Certificate with a Concentration in Healthcare Simulation which is offered by our affiliated Mass General Institute of Health Professions (a graduate school founded by Mass General).

All fellows will complete the certificate program, which includes coursework at the Institute for Medical Simulation (Center for Medical Simulation in Cambridge, MA) and the Harvard-Macy Institute (Program for Educators in the Health Professions). Depending on funding levels, there is also the possibility that fellows will be able to obtain a master’s in health professions education through the Mass General Institute of Health Professions.

Mentored training in the above cognitive elements as well as human/fiscal resource management and research design/methodology will be delivered through bi-weekly meetings with the Fellowship research group and monthly meetings of institution-wide surgical education research meetings.

The fellow will have an opportunity to work very closely with Roy Phitayakorn, MD, Sophia McKinley, MD, MEd, and Dandan Chen, PhD, to design and complete their own individual research project that emphasizes at least one of the cognitive elements mentioned above. The simulation specialists will also mentor the fellow so that the fellow is comfortable managing the technical elements of a successful simulation session including role playing/improvisation and technical troubleshooting.

How to Apply

Requirements

Applicants must either:

  • Have an MD and be enrolled or have completed a residency in any surgically-oriented field, or
  • Be enrolled in or have completed a PhD program in a relevant field (including but not limited to psychometrics, education and computer science).
  • Independent funding is required to join the fellowship program.

To Apply

To apply for the Surgical Education and Simulation Research Fellowship at Mass General, please send a cover letter, Curriculum Vitae and letter of recommendation from a supervisor (Program Director, Dept Chief or equivalent) to the email below:

mghserg@mgb.org

Application deadline is November 30.


Leadership

  • Dandan Chen, PhD
    Health Professions Education Researcher
  • Sophia McKinley, MD, MEd
    Surgical Oncologist, Mass General
  • Roy Phitayakorn, MD
    Associate Surgeon, Mass General
    Associate Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Collaborators

Current Fellows

Tiffany Bellomo, MDTiffany Bellomo, MD

Medical School: University of Michigan Medical School

Residency: Vascular Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

Tiffany is excited to join the surgical education fellowship and work towards improving the quality of resident education. Her first experience with resident education was in medical school, where she studied different aspects of struggling surgical residents from the perspective of program directors. During her residency, she designed and implemented a successful training program for ultrasound-guided femoral artery access. In the surgical education fellowship, Tiffany will focus on creating attending-specific surgical step resources and developing patient evaluation methods for resident performance. These projects aim to enhance the quality of surgical training and improve educational outcomes for residents.


Claire Ferguson, MDClaire Ferguson, MD

Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Residency: General Surgery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Claire is a general surgery resident entering a two-year research fellowship with the MGH SERG program and the Downstate iNSPIRe initiative. She grew up in Massachusetts prior to attending SUNY Downstate for medical school and continued in their general surgery residency program. Her education experience includes leading the resident simulation curriculum and collaborating with the medical school to revamp the surgical simulation education for clerkship students. Her interests include surgical simulation education, leadership development, and wellness. She is honored to be joining the SERG program to develop as a surgical educator and aspires to contribute to surgical simulation education in the MGH community.


Chase Marso, MDChase Marso, MD

Medical School: Harvard Medical School

Residency: General Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

Chase is a general surgery resident at MGH. He grew up in Brandon, SD, graduated with a BA in biology from Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD, and then moved to Boston to attend Harvard Medical School. He plans to pursue fellowship training in cardiothoracic surgery. During his time as a research fellow, he is also pursuing an MHPE at the MGH Institute of Health Professions. His surgical education interests include improving resident evaluation, robotic training, and patient education.


Brett Salomon, MDBrett Salomon, MD

Brett Salomon is a current integrated vascular surgery resident at MGH. He grew up in New Orleans, LA, where he studied for both undergraduate at Tulane University and medical school at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Brett started his post graduate training in general surgery in Knoxville, TN prior to transferring to MGH into the integrated vascular surgery program. His interests in surgical education include pattern recognition training for intraoperative decision making, personalized learning, and curriculum development for endovascular and open vascular surgical skills acquisition.


Jonah Thomas, MD, MSJonah Thomas, MD, MS

Medical School: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University

Residency: General Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

Jonah grew up in Chandler, AZ, and attended Barrett, the Honors College at ASU for undergrad, then earned a Master's in Biomedial Engineering from ASU. For medical school, he attended the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. During medical school, Jonah conducted research in abdominal wall reconstruction and surgical education. As a new SERF fellow, he aims to explore the transition from undergraduate to graduate medical education and enhance the literature on surgical subinternships.


Emily Witt, MD, MScEmily Witt, MD, MSc

Emily Witt is a general surgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. Originally from Colorado, she earned a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University, as well as master’s degrees in Neuroscience and Medical Anthropology from the University of Oxford. She went on to receive her medical training at Harvard, where she first worked with the MGH SERG to elucidate medical student perspectives on the core surgical clerkship and to evaluate the potential of patient feedback in holistic resident evaluation. Going forward, Emily is interested incorporating precision education into surgical residency and enhancing resident utilization of intraoperative feedback.


Publications
  • Rashid, G., Pradarelli, A., Chu, J., Chang, D., Nelson, B., Mullen, J., & Palamara, K. (2022). The Experience of Academic Physician Coaches in a Professional Development Coaching Program. Global Surgical Education-Journal of the Association for Surgical Education, 1(1), 63
  • Rashid, G., Jogerst, K., Healy, M., Park, Y., Petrusa, E. (2023). Are Your Interpretations of the Assessment’s Results Valid? An Introduction to Validity Theory for the Surgical Educator. Resources in Surgical Education
  • Palenzuela D. (2022). What Does It Mean to Be a “Good Intern?” American College of Surgeons. Resources in Surgical Education
Presentations
  • Palenzuela D, Phitayakorn R. What Does It Mean to Be a “Good Intern?” Association for Surgical Education Annual Meeting. “Shark Tank” Oral Presentation. San Diego, CA. April 13-15, 2023
  • Palenzuela D, Pradarelli A, McKinley S, Moses J, Phitayakorn R. Pre-clinical Social Learning Immersion Experiences Improve Medical Student Perceptions of Surgery. 18th Annual Academic Surgical Congress. Oral Quickshot Presentation. Houston, TX. Feb 7-9, 2023
  • Cron DC. Implementation of an Academic Development Rotation for Surgery Residents. Thinking Out of the Box – Oral Presentation. Association for Surgical Education Annual Meeting. San Antonio, TX. May 2022
  • Cron DC, Coe T, Secor J, Guyer R, Brownlee S, Phitayakorn R, Mullen J, Lillemoe K, Liao E, Boland G. Implementation and Evaluation of an Academic Development Block Rotation for Surgery Residents. Oral Presentation. 18th Annual Academic Surgical Congress. Houston, TX. February 2023
  • Whaley, Z, et al. Stakeholder Needs from a New Surgery Vice Chair of Education Position. Academic Surgical Congress; February 2023; Houston, TX
  • Whaley, Z, et al. Mindsets in General Surgery Residents and Faculty. Association for Surgical Education Annual Meeting; April 2023; San Diego, CA. (Accepted)
  • Whaley, Z, et al. Promoting Patient and Family Perceptions of Resident Involvement in Surgical Care (in submission)