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Contact please the International Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Coordinator:

Dragan Kravarusic MD

Director of Pediatric Surgery Department

Soroka Medical Center

P.O.B 151 , Beer Sheva , 8410101, Israel

Phone: 972-8-6400270

Fax: 972-8-6383723

Email: dragank@clalit.org.il​

Soroka Medical Center is the primary tertiary medical care center in Southern Israel and integrated Saban Children’s Hospital is the major pediatric referral center. The International Pediatric Surgery Fellowship is a program, specially design for foreign applicants whose mission is to provide comprehensive training in advanced pediatric surgery for appropriate candidates whose intention is to return to practice in their home country. Program covers extensive theoretical and practical training in the surgical management of infants, children, and adolescents with problems managed in the practice of general pediatric surgery and encompasses entire spectrum of abdominal and thoracic ( non-cardiac) conventional / minimal access surgery techniques that fall within the scope of practice.

Goals and Objectives of the Program
The primary goals and mission of the International Program are education and research of foreign applicants in the advanced, state-of-the-art pediatric institution.
The educational goals on which the program is based includes:

In order to accomplish these goals our general surgical service does a large volume of procedures (1500 / per year) with remarkable number of index pediatric surgical index cases such as TEF, CDH, Gastroschisis, Omphalocele and Ano Rectal anomalies and plenty of routine cases such as hernia repair, orchiopexy, intussusception , etc.

The oncology service is the primary provider of care for children from southern Israel with various tumors and hematological disorders in the region. The pediatric surgery service does a large volume of tumor cases including Wilms, Neuroblastoma, Rhabdomyosarcoma and others.

The pediatric surgical fellows receive strong training in minimally invasive procedures with experience in both routine and advanced operations in neonates and older children. Currently we are performing around 250-300 MIS cases per year and doing wide range of the laparoscopic and

thoracoscopic procedures ( 40 different surgical techniques). The list of most common abdominal MIS procedures includes Cholecystectomy, Appendectomy, Nissen Fundoplication, Splenectomy, Bowel resections , Bariatric surgery and among thoracoscopic procedures , Lobectomy / Segmentectomy , Nuss operation for Pectus Excavatum deformity and Sympatectomy for Hyperhidrosis are the most frequent.

While operative training is an important aspect of the fellowship, it is critical for the fellows to be involved in the pre- and post-operative care of the infants and children. Fellows spend half a day in clinic twice a week and see both new and follow up patients; in particular those with congenital problems that need long-term pediatric surgical care such as Hirschsprung’s and imperforate anus.

Surgical patients in general remain on the surgical service from surgery to discharge including infants and children in the ICUs. Under supervision of the attending surgical staff the pediatric surgical fellows share all aspects of care on the wards and in the ICUs.

Weekly activities , Conference and Lecture Schedule

In addition to clinical training, a series of didactic lectures and conferences helps prepare the pediatric surgical fellow for clinical practice. The current schedule is listed below:

Sunday:
7:45 – 8:45 am Radiology Round
09:00 – 09:30 am Morning Staff Meeting
10:00 – 12:00 Pre - operative clinic
12:30 -15:30 Out - patient clinic
Monday:
7:45 – 8:45 am Morning Staff Meeting
09:00 – 09:30 am Radiology Round
08:00 – 15:00 Operation room
Tuesday:
7:45 – 8:45 am Morning Staff Meeting
08:00 – 15:00 Operation room
Wednesday:
7:45 – 10:00 Morning Staff Meeting &Grand Round & resident case Conferences
08:00 – 15:00 Operation room (every second week)
10:30 – 11:30 Journal Club , M & M Conferences on alternating weeks
12:00 – 13:00 Prenatal Team Consultations for Congenital Anomalies (every second week)
14:00 – 15:00 Tumor Board (every second week)
Thursday:
7:45 – 8:45 am Morning Staff Meeting
08:00 – 15:00 Operation room
12:30 -15:30 Out - patient clinic

* All pediatric surgery fellows, general surgery residents and attending staff are expected to attend these conferences.

Faculty and Support Staff
Our team currently include : 5 full-time academic and 1 half- time staff surgeons, one clinical fellow and two ward physicians :
- Dr. Dragan Kravarusic, Surgeon-in-Chief , Director of Pediatric Surgery Division and Program/Director / Principal Coordinator of International Pediatric Surgery Fellowship program./
- Dr. Yakov Mordechay , Deputy Director of General Surgery Service
Coordinator of Colo - Rectal Surgery Service.
- Dr. Nitza Hyman-Neiman , Attending Surgeon ,Deputy Director of Soroka Medical Center.
- Dr. Oleg Kleiner , Attending Surgeon , Coordinator of Minimal Access Surgery Service/
- Dr. Yulia Fuxman , Attending Surgeon , Coordinator of Oncology Service.
- Dr. Antonella Nahum, Attending Surgeon , Coordinator of Neonatal Surgery Service.
- Dr. Ludmilla Tomarov , Pediatric Surgery Fellow , Senior General Surgeon.
- Dr. Dimitry Rodnov , MD Senior register.
- Dr. Alexandar Orlovsky , MD Senior register

Off Service Rotations
International pediatric surgery fellows may spend 1 month on elective rotation other than general pediatric surgery according to their preference ( NICU / PICU / Trauma Unit).

Research
The training program is primarily clinical in nature. Fellows are expected to become involved in ongoing clinical research projects sometime during their training. Majority of these projects have resulted in a local or national presentations / papers. These projects are under the supervision of the surgical faculty.

Call, Vacation, Evaluations, Benefits
There is no mandatory in-house call for international fellows since Schneider Children’s has regular call schedule covered by Israeli fellows/ residents / extenders with arrangements to stay in compliance with the 80-hour work week.
An office is provided for the fellows / residents and is equipped with computers linked to the hospital’s information systems and the Internet. There are pediatric surgical journals and texts in the office and in the nearby library.
Fellows receive 2 weeks of vacation and 2 weeks of sick leave during the year of training. During the year of training basic medical insurance is provided by the local Health Care system.
Formal evaluations are conducted on a biannual basis. Evaluations are sought from faculty members in the department of surgery. These evaluations are compiled and discussed with the fellow by the program director / coordinator. Informal evaluations occur on an ongoing basis. An exit interview is conducted at the end of the fellowship and provides the faculty valuable feedback regarding the program.
In addition, the international fellow is sent to the Israeli Pediatric Surgical Association (IPSA) annual meeting at the department’s expense.

Program Requirements
To be considered, candidates for the position of Fellow in Pediatric Surgery should have met the following requirements:
- Doctorate of Medicine
- Completion of residency in general or pediatric surgery
with eligibility to take qualifying examination in the country of origin.
- Valid medical license / visa from the country of origin and certificate of good standing

To Apply
Candidates applying for the 2016 International Pediatric Surgery Fellowship program can submit their applications and related application documents electronically or by courier to the program coordinator.
The following materials are required to complete your application: 1) Curriculum Vitae with summary of research experience / interest , 2) brief personal statement, and 3) two letters of recommendation.

For more information:
Contact please the International Pediatric Surgery Fellowship Coordinator:
Dragan Kravarusic MD
Director of Pediatric Surgery Department
Soroka Medical Center
P.O.B 151 , Beer Sheva , 8410101, Israel
Phone: 972-8-6400270
Fax: 972-8-6383723
Email: dragank@clalit.org.il