FSF Fellowship Grants Close the Funding Gap for Minimally Invasive Surgical Training, Optimize Patient Care
(PRWEB) August 12, 2014 -- Los Angeles, Calif / The Los Angeles-based Foundation for Surgical Fellowships (FSF) recognizes that a disparity still exists in the use of minimally invasive surgery in American healthcare. A study published last month titled, “Hospital level under-utilization of minimally invasive surgery in the United States,” and conducted by a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins University, found that of the 1,000 US hospitals surveyed, laparoscopic surgical procedures are not offered as an option to hundreds of thousands of patients who are candidates for minimally invasive surgery http://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4198. Financial incentives or a surgeon’s preference for open surgery, possibly due to lack of training, often determine if a patient is offered the opportunity to undergo a laparoscopic procedure. The study also found that many hospitals routinely exclude MIS despite the advantages of fewer surgical complications and lower overall healthcare costs.
One of the main goals of the FSF is the advocacy for the use of minimally invasive surgery. The majority of surgeries that are taught in FSF funded fellowships are laparoscopic procedures in the fields of Gastrointestinal Surgery. Currently, the FSF has just started its 2014-2015 grant cycle with roughly 113 funded fellowships throughout the United States that offer training in minimally invasive surgical techniques. FSF Board President Dennis Fowler, MD stated “We need to educate the patient that this is an option that is available to them, but we also need to promote and train new surgeons in MIS. Not all surgeries can be performed MIS, but there needs to be a transparency from hospitals that this option is available”.
Since its founding in 2010, FSF has funded over 533 individual clinical surgical fellowship programs throughout the United States and is currently experiencing a temporary reduction in funding due to the economic downturn impacting the medical manufacturing industry and is aggressively seeking alternative funding resources to alleviate this situation for future funding cycles. If you would like to be involved and make a donation or assist the foundation with obtaining corporate funding, please contact our Development Manager, Colleen Elkins at 310-424-3332 ext 114 or by email at colleen(at)surgicalfellowships(dot)org.
ABOUT FSF
The Foundation for Surgical Fellowships exists to fund high quality fellowships in various areas of surgery, including but not limited to flexible endoscopy, minimal access surgery and other related disciplines. Through a blinded application and review process, the Foundation will identify and distribute funds to qualified organizations based on criteria of excellence. The Foundation for Surgical Fellowships will promote and support the continued availability of postgraduate surgical training opportunities of the highest quality.
For more information contact: Matt Clark, Administrative Coordinator of the Foundation at 310-424-3332 or by email at matt(at)surgicalfellowships(dot)org. Visit our website at http://www.surgicalfellowships.org.
Matt Clark, Foundation for Surgical Fellowships, http://www.surgicalfellowships.org, (310) 424-3222 Ext: 138, [email protected]
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