Stroger Hospital of Cook County
Program Director: Amir Bastawrous, M.D.
1900 W. Polk Street, #402
Chicago, IL 60612
Phone: (312) 864-5253
Number of Residents (per year): 3
Number of Faculty (ABCRS Certified): 9
University Affiliation: University of Illinois at Chicago
Salary/Year: $56,347
Case mix / number of cases: The residents rotate through a private hospital, a university medical center and the public county hospital. Graduates finish having completed 700-800 procedures. Each resident performs between 175 and 250 abdominal colonic procedures (including 70 laparoscopic colon resections), 200-300 anorectal operations, and more than 200 colonoscopic procedures, of which about 50 involve electrosurgical polypectomy.
Strengths of program: The program provides broad exposure to all aspects of anorectal, colorectal, and endoscopic cases. The program strengths are laparoscopic colon surgery, colonoscopy, benign anorectal procedures and testing, and structured didactic teaching. There is supervised independence, particularly on the County Hospital rotation.
Clinic or office experience: The residents spend two half-day (4 hrs) sessions in the clinics or private offices of each facility. In addition, the Stroger Hospital rotation includes a full-time surgical endoscopy unit at which outpatient colonoscopy experience is provided.
Interaction with general surgery residents: Numerous general surgery residents rotate on each of the services at all times. Typically, at least one senior and one junior general surgery resident (and as many as 4 general surgery residents) are on service at any particular time. There is extensive interaction with general surgery residents in all conferences. Residents from Rush University rotate on the colorectal service at Stroger Hospital, residents from the University of Illinois rotate on the colorectal service at Stroger Hospital and the University of Illinois and residents from the Metropolitan Group Program rotate on the colorectal service at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.
Conferences: The conference schedule was revamped several years ago. A mandatory weekly didactic lecture schedule provides the core structure. In addition, biweekly multidisciplinary cancer planning conferences, monthly pathology teaching course, weekly case preparation conferences and monthly colorectal M&M conference have been added. Weekly institutional morbidity and mortality, grand rounds, tumor board, and surgery-radiology correlation conferences provide additional instruction.
Anorectal physiology availability: Several fully equipped anorectal physiology labs provide excellent experience to the residents. There are Pelvic Floor Centers at the University of Illinois Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital which provide ultrasound, biofeedback training, pudendal nerve studies, and manometry testing. The Stroger Hospital of Cook County has manometry and ultrasound facilities.
Outside rotations: N/A
Research year: Available
Requirement for paper: Each resident must at least complete one paper for presentation at ASCRS meeting and/or publication in a referred journal.
Opportunity to attend meetings: Each resident is given the opportunity to attend the ASCRS convention. The resident may also attend ACS Clinical Congress if he/she is on the program.