Mastery in General Surgery Program Chief
Steven Milman, MD
SMilman@Signature-Healthcare.org
Additional Information
110 Liberty Street
Brockton, MA 02302
(508) 941-0962
Website
Signature Healthcare
Program Highlights
The experience will be at Brockton Hospital and our outpatient office facility at 110 Liberty St., Brockton, MA. The General Surgery faculty include board certified, fellowship trained colorectal, bariatric, minimally invasive and transplant/HPB surgeons.
Program Description
The entire clinical experience will occur at Signature Healthcare including any and all areas designated for delivery of general surgery services, both inpatient and outpatient.
The largest proportion of clinical experience will be derived from taking general surgery call at Brockton Hospital with additional opportunity to work in our outpatient offices. There is one general surgery service that includes general surgery, bariatric surgery, colorectal surgery, plastic surgery, thoracic surgery and vascular surgery which together are staffed by 10 surgeons currently including 6 general surgeons. The general surgery service is supported by a resident and a PA team that provide uninterrupted coverage 24 hours a day throughout the year. The Junior Associate will be paired with a general surgery attending for all on-call responsibilities throughout the program with plans for graduated independence based on skill level and competence. Following an initial period of close observation and support; the goal is for the Junior Associate to be able to function as a fully independent junior partner in general surgery by the last 6 months of the program. Outside of on-call responsibilities, the Junior Associate will have the opportunity to get additional experience in bariatric surgery, minimally invasive general surgery and colorectal surgery based on their prior experience and interest.
Non-referred cases during call appropriate for the Junior Associate will be the primary responsibility of the Junior Associate with support (clinical decision making and technical/operative) from the Program Chief and Senior Associates. Initially, the Junior Associate will present all consults to the Program Chief or their designee to ensure that a safe, satisfactory, and complete work-up has been performed and that the Junior Associate has demonstrated good clinical judgment and decision making. Based on the experience and skill of the Junior Associate, there will be graduated responsibility over time with increasing independence as appropriate.
The Junior Associate will be provided with clinical space, time and support to see their patients in follow-up with proper support from the Program Chief or one of the Senior Associates or an appropriate designee. The Junior Associate will serve as the attending of record for non-designated general surgery consults that come in while the Junior Associate is on call. For patients that are determined to have a non-emergent general surgery issue who are discharged from the hospital, the Junior Associate will be responsible for their follow-up and care in the outpatient setting. In addition, the Junior Associate will serve as the attending of record for any surgical cases generated from these activities where appropriate based on the needs of the patients and the experience of the Junior Associate.
A practice management educational program will include education on billing and coding. Billing practices will be reviewed by our coders and they will receive monthly statements indicating what percentage of cases they coded/billed appropriately or incorrectly. Additional information will be provided on medical liability, contract negotiations, and quality improvement. Signature Healthcare has been recognized nationally for its robust commitment to patient safety and quality outcomes. The Junior Associate will have their own quality dashboard which will reviewed with them monthly by the Program Chief at their scheduled monthly meetings.
The Junior Associate will have an intake assessment at the start of their program which will include a review of the objectives and goals of the program and an opportunity for the Junior Associate to work together with the program chief to tailor the program to their individual needs.
The Junior Associate and Program Chief will have monthly meetings for evaluation of the associate, as well as, the faculty and program. These evaluations will include input from the Program Chief, Senior Associates, anesthesia team, nursing staff and surgery advanced practice providers. The associate will have meetings scheduled with the President of Signature Medical Group to review the quality of the program and to discuss performance of the program chief at the 6 month and 12-month time points in the program.
The final assessment will be performed by the Program Chief. The Junior Associate will also be asked to reflect on the year, the program and their performance. As part of the final assessment, the Program Chief and Junior Associate will discuss the new practice environment that the Junior Associate is moving to and use this as a coaching opportunity to develop a 5-year plan for the Junior Associate. The final assessment will also include identification of a senior mentor in the practice environment where the Junior Associate will be going.
Benefits include an online program for CME risk credits as part of the malpractice plan, up to $3,350 support for the Junior Associate to join the American College of Surgeons and attend the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. Additional educational experiences include weekly tumor board and monthly M&M.
Senior Associates
Deborah B. Abeles, MD, FACS (bariatric and minimally invasive surgery)
Michael J. McCoobery, MD, FACS (general surgery, melanoma)
Deepti Seshadri, MD (colorectal surgery, general surgery)
