Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency

Our Program

Director
George Y. Apostolides, MD, FACS, FASCRS
6535 North Charles Street, Suite 445
Towson, MD 21204
410-494-1192 or 443-849-6910

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Associate Director
Francesco Grasso, MD, FACS, FACRS
6569 N. Charles Street, Suite 502
Towson, MD 21204
410-296-1661

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Attending
Joseph DiRocco, MD, FACS, FASCRS
6569 N. Charles Street, Suite 502
Towson, MD 21204
410-296-1661

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The Colorectal Surgery Residency Program at Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Successful completion of our one-year program in Colorectal Surgery qualifies and prepares the resident to take the Qualifying and the Certifying Examinations of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. The Colorectal Surgery Residency Program at GBMC offers a well rounded clinical experience for the resident, providing an abundant number and variety of surgical and endoscopic cases. Our excellent didactic activities include weekly textbook chapter reading, monthly pathology conference, monthly radiology conference, and monthly journal club. Clinical rotation in a center of excellence is also provided for the benefit of the resident.

Program Specifications

Number of Residents (per year): Currently GBMC is offering one Colon and Rectal Residency position per Academic year.
Number of Faculty (ABCRS Certified): There are currently three Board Certified Colon and Rectal Surgeons on the Medical Staff at GBMC.
Case mix / number of cases: 200 abdominal procedures, 250 anal procedures, and 325 colonoscopies (based on Academic Year 2011-2012).
Strengths of the program:
- Wide availability of cases to choose from since there is no competition with any other surgical residents.
- Strong laparoscopic colon surgery experience. Extensive exposure to office practice of colorectal surgery.
- State of the art anorectal physiology lab and rectal ultrasound are available and utilized by resident.
- Robotic experience and strong endoscopic experience.
Clinic or office experience: The Resident attends private office hours with teaching staff 1 or 2 times a week.
Educational conferences:
- Monthly Journal Club
- Pathology and Radiology Conferences; Anorectal Physiology Conference
- Surgical Grand Rounds
- Tumor Board
- M&M Conferences
- ASCRS Textbook and CARSEP Review.
Outside rotations: Cleveland Clinic (2 weeks).
Research year: None offered at the present time.
Requirement for scientific activity: The Resident is required to prepare one research paper for publication and three lectures for presentation.
Opportunity to attend meetings: The resident's attendance at the annual ASCRS meeting and regional meetings are funded by the Program. Endorectal ultrasound course, simulated laparoscopic lab experience.

Benefits at No Cost to Residents

Liability Insurance
Life Insurance
Long-Term Disability Insurance
On-Call Meal Allowance
Parking
Lab Coats
Vision Care (Glasses not included)
Highly successful Intramural Board Review Course
ACP-ASIM Associates Membership & MKSAP (categorical residents)
Benefits Requiring Member Payments
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Prescription Plan
Short-Term Disability
Tax-Deferred Annuity
Health & Dependent Care Spending Accounts
On-campus Day Care Center

Program Admission

To qualify as an applicant for the Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC), you must have completed a 5 year General Surgery Program accredited by the ACGME and be able to qualify for a Maryland Medical License.

Application to the Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program at Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) will be through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) only. No paper applications will be accepted.

A completed application to our program will consist of:

Curriculum Vitae
Photograph
Photostatic copy of Medical School grades and diploma.
Letter from your medical school documenting your performance.
General Surgery Residency Program Director's Letter
Three Letters of Recommendation - At least one of which must be from your General Surgery Residency Program Director
Personal Statement
ECFMG Status Report (Foreign Medical Graduates Only)

NRMP Program Code: 1241060FO
Program Contacts: Gail Carney
Phone: 443-849-6910
E-mail: gcarney@gbmc.org

Mailing address:
George Y. Apostolides, M.D.
Program Director
Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program
Physicians Pavilion North Building
6535 North Charles Street - Suite 445
Towson, MD 21204

Our Philosophy

The goal of Greater Baltimore Medical Center's Residency Program in Colon and Rectal Surgery is to provide an educational experience such that, upon completion of the training period, the resident will be able to evaluate and treat patients with colon and rectal disease with a higher degree of expertise and skill than even a well-trained general surgeon and will feel confident in the management of even the most complex of colorectal problems.

Our program's guiding philosophy is that the residency year at GBMC is a purely educational experience — there is no service component to our training program — and the resident is given great flexibility and independence in planning his or her daily activities in a manner that maximizes the opportunities for learning.

The program's goals are achieved through a combination of carefully structured and supervised clinical and didactic activities.

Clinical

Working one-on-one with attending colon and rectal surgeons, the resident learns to integrate the findings derived from office examination, endoscopy suite, and physiology laboratory in establishing a diagnosis and developing a sound and scientifically-based treatment plan. In arriving at this plan, the resident and attending surgeon also take into consideration relevant issues of ethics and cost effectiveness, and the resident learns how to present these conclusions to the patient in a compassionate manner.

If surgical treatment is undertaken, the resident operates with and under the direct supervision of an attending colon and rectal surgeon and actively participates in the patient's postoperative care, both in the hospital and in office follow-up.

This process, when combined with review of the patient's imaging and pathology studies in formal Radiology and Pathology Conferences, provides the resident with a comprehensive vertically-integrated learning experience.

Didactic

The didactic portion of GBMC Residency Program in Colon and Rectal Surgery offers an intellectually stimulating experience thats goal is to provide the resident with a knowledge base for scientifically valid, clinical decision-making. In addition, the resident acquires a critical sense for evaluation of medical literature, studies the broad spectrum of colon and rectal disease in preparation for the examination of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, and learns how to develop a clinical research project.

The program achieves these goals through Journal Club, at which the resident presents recent or classic articles to the attending staff for discussion and analysis, the Textbook Conference, in which the resident systematically reviews a major textbook in colon and rectal with a faculty member, and the Pathology and Radiology Conferences, in which the relevant studies from the resident's clinical experience, as well as examples from the hospital's teaching collections, are reviewed with a staff pathologist or radiologist.

In addition, under the guidance of a faculty member, the resident prepares an article for publication or a podium presentation for delivery at a regional or national meeting.

The program supplements the formal didactic program by encouraging the resident to attend GBMC Surgical Grand Rounds as well as local surgical and gastroenterologic meetings. GBMC also funds the resident's attendance at the annual convention of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

Conclusion

Upon completion of GBMC Residency Program in Colon and Rectal Surgery, the resident will possess the knowledge and skill to treat patients with colon and rectal disease in a state-of-the-art manner and with a degree of sophistication beyond that possessed by even a well-trained general surgeon. As a practitioner, he or she will derive a high degree of personal and professional satisfaction through an in-depth knowledge and understanding of their chosen field and in providing their patients with the highest possible level of care.

Our History

Our History is Your Future...

THE FATHER OF OUR PROGRAM
JOHN DAVID ROSIN, M.D.

John (Jack to his friends) David Rosin was born on June 26, 1918 in South Bend, Indiana and was raised in Washington, D.C. through high school. He attended his undergraduate studies at Johns Hopkins University from 1938-1942, then Medical School at University of Maryland and Internship at University Hospital. During WWII, Dr. Rosin served his country by joining the Army Medical Corps in the European front, where he spent three years from 1943-1945. After the resolution of the war, Dr. Rosin completed his postgraduate education in the General Surgery Residency at Church and Lutheran Hospitals; he was then accepted for the Proctology Fellowship at Mayo Clinic 1949-1952.

Upon completion of his Fellowship, Dr. Rosin was offered a position as a member of the Surgical Staff at Mayo Clinic. He declined in order to be close to his mother here in Baltimore and joined Dr. Edwards in his practice. At that time, Dr. Rosin was the only trained and certified Colon and Rectal Surgeon in Maryland.

Dr. Rosin joined the Hospital for Women of Maryland in 1953 and became a member of GBMC Medical Staff in 1965. A well-known Baltimore Surgeon, Dr. Rosin was the Founder and Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency Program at GBMC.

On January 3, 1990, the Greater Baltimore Medical Center lost our revered colleague, John David Rosin, M.D.

A Memorial Lecture is presented in his memory in May of each year and is attended by a large number of Surgeons who had the privilege to train at the GBMC Colon and Rectal Surgery Residency, as well as many other Physicians from the Greater Baltimore area.

Mentors: Dr. Monte Edwards (only surgeon at that time to limit his practice to Colorectal Surgery) and Dr. Louis A. Buie, Chief Department of Proctology at Mayo Clinic. Famous saying to his Fellows: "Anorectal surgery is not difficult, but it has to be done right the first time the patient uses that hole" (Dr. Claude Dixon).