Incoming fellows enter the program with fundamental competencies developed during their general surgery residency, including basic skills in preoperative preparation, patient evaluation, tissue handling, camera navigation, laparoscopic techniques, and vascular control. Our program builds on this foundation, advancing the skills of each fellow in intraoperative ultrasound, complex suturing and stapling techniques, and developing an understanding of various energy sources.

Over the course of the year, our fellows are expected to participate in more than 125 endocrine operations, serving as primary surgeons in most cases within a system of graduated autonomy. Our curriculum emphasizes comprehensive preoperative assessment, including a thorough understanding of management options, indications, contraindications, and potential complications associated with endocrine procedures.

Additionally, fellows are expected to demonstrate sound intraoperative judgement and the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to complications. Our program is designed to advance each fellow’s decision-making abilities, encouraging them to understand both operative and nonoperative approaches to endocrine disease. Fellows are expected to exhibit reasoning to arrive at the best procedure and/or plan of action for each patient.

A final central component of the curriculum is mastery of endocrine anatomy and physiology. Fellows are expected to develop advanced proficiency in interpreting anatomic and physiologic studies and demonstrate an understanding of both normal and pathologic presentations of endocrine organs and systems. This includes exhibiting expert-level interpretations of anatomic and physiological studies of the endocrine organs and systems.

In addition to clinical training, our fellows are required to participate in nonclinical educational endeavors. They are expected to regularly attend didactic educational sessions, which may include textbook reviews, journal clubs, peer-review conferences, and resident teaching rounds. They are also encouraged to participate in biweekly resident educational conferences, morbidity, and mortality conferences, and participate in and lead monthly thyroid and adrenal conferences.

Essential educational topics explored include the epidemiology and history of the field, the physiology and interactive mechanisms of endocrine organs, and both preoperative evaluation and postoperative management of endocrine surgical patients. Fellows study various surgical approaches and techniques, from laparoscopic versus open approaches to specific procedures such as thyroidectomy, central and lateral neck lymph node dissections, parathyroidectomy, parathyroid autotransplantation, and adrenalectomy. They also learn about reoperative thyroid and parathyroid surgery, enucleations, and formal pancreatic resections for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, managing postoperative complications, endocrine disease processes in childhood and adolescence, and outcomes of endocrine surgery.

Through scholarly work, fellows contribute to advancing the field of endocrine surgery while building skills in research methodology and scientific communication. Program participants are expected to conduct research and complete at least one clinical and/or research project during the fellowship. This project must be submitted to a national or regional society for presentation at a conference, or for publication in an established journal.

To be eligible for the Endocrine Surgery Fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital, applicants must have completed a Residency Review Committee-approved general surgery program or its international equivalent. Fellows must be board-certified by the American Board of Surgery or currently in the examination process (board eligible). International candidates who do not meet these standard prerequisites may request an exception from the Program Director. However, please note that ultimate certification will depend on the fellow's ability to meet all stipulated requirements by the end of the program.

All applications are submitted through the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. For questions about the application process, please contact Zuinda Feliz Leon, Fellowship Program Coordinator.