Charlotte, NC
Number of Positions Offered: 1
Mastery in General Surgery Program Chief
Lauren Paton, MD, FACS
Lauren.paton@atriumhealth.org
Phone: 704-355-1813
Additional Information
1000 Blythe Boulevard
2nd Floor Administrative Suites
T Wing Charlotte
Charlotte, NC 28203
Phone: 704-355-1127
Fax: 704-355-3039
Websites
Carolinas Medical Center
General Surgery at Carolinas Medical Center
The Junior Associate will begin the program with a period (1–3 months) of monitored practice at Carolinas Medical Center (CMC). During this time, the Junior Associate will work closely with Senior Associates, but independently. They will staff the Acute Care and Emergency General Surgery Services at CMC-Main. They will take attending call for this service, and be the primary surgeon for acute and elective cases from clinic. The next three months will be elective months. The final half of the year will continue the transition to independent practice and the Junior Associate will take call as the primary surgeon at CMC-Mercy. This will include 24-hour faculty mentor back-up and general surgery resident coverage.
The experience will be personalized and, in cases where the Junior Associate has a definite idea of future location and scope of practice, early efforts will be initiated to tailor an experience that provides emphasis on needed or desired expanded experience. The program can be tailored to gain experience with rural versus urban practice, group versus solo practice, or hospital-based system versus independent practice. The primary focus of the initial rotations is to be with faculty who practice general surgery and therefore a broad-based experience offered.
Initial assessment will involve a comprehensive review by the CMC Mastery in General Surgery Program Senior Associates and Mastery in General Surgery Program Chief of the Junior Associate’s application, which must include CV, residency operative experience case log, faculty evaluations, and letters of recommendation. Junior Associate responsibilities include patient evaluation and management, operative intervention, postoperative follow-up, and billing. When the Junior Associate achieves sufficient confidence by the faculty in their capability, gradual expansion of autonomous practice will occur. Focused tailored elective experiences in subspecialties such as breast, endocrine, pediatric, thoracic, vascular, and GI/minimally invasive surgery will be offered and completed as desired during the first half of the year. Throughout the entire year, the Junior Associate will have their own outpatient clinic to see consults to develop an elective component to their practice and also to perform minor office procedures and will perform endoscopy.
The Junior Associate will be evaluated by an assigned faculty mentor at the end of each four-week block. These evaluations will assess medical knowledge, patient care, operative skill, and professionalism. These results will be collated and then reviewed with the Junior Associate during quarterly formative reviews by the Mastery in General Surgery Program Chief or a designee. Quarterly Junior Associate meetings with the Senior Associates will assess not only the Junior Associate’s progress, but also provide improvements and/or modifications in the Mastery in General Surgery Program experience and set specific goals to be met by the next review. In addition to these formal processes, there will also be collegial verbal feedback daily.
The Junior Associate will be expected to attend educational conferences such as weekly morbidity and mortality conferences and monthly grand rounds. Opportunities are also available to attend other educational conferences such as basic science and specialty conferences in critical care, oncology tumor boards, and oral board preparation conferences. The Junior Associate will attend the American College of Surgeons’ Clinical Congress and either the Annual Meeting for the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma or the Annual Meeting for Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma.
The Junior Associate will have the opportunity to learn practice management skills to include billing and coding, operational office issues, personnel management, and health care teamwork management. During this time the Junior Associate will be assigned clinic time for his or her own patients and be responsible for assigning billing codes for consults, operations, and outpatient office billing. The Junior Associate will function as a junior partner within the CMC faculty and conduct monthly financial reviews consistent with standard practice in the department. CMC participates in the ACS NSQIP® and the Junior Associate will be exposed to quality practice evaluation and initiatives derived from that participation including monthly collaborate meetings. In addition, the Junior Associate will be enrolled in the ACS Practice Management online course.
John M. Green, MD, FACS
B. Lauren Paton, MD, FACS
Lynnette M. Schiffern, MD, FACS
Ronald F. Sing, DO, FACS
Bradley W. Thomas, MD, FACS
