Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) is a high-volume academic medical center and a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The BWH Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology offers a full range of highly competitive fellowship programs in addition to a busy resident teaching service. We are in a unique position to offer a strong candidate an opportunity to become proficient in a wide variety of MIGS techniques and to benefit from the large number of educational and research activities offered at our institution.
Our main goal is to graduate a competent MIGS surgeon as well as an academician that is ready to take on a leadership role within the MIGS community. The fellow will rotate with a number of experienced MIGS surgeons at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, allowing for exposure to a variety of techniques and procedures throughout the training period. Some of the more commonly performed procedures include total laparoscopic hysterectomy, laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy, laparoscopic myomectomy, sacrocolpopexy and surgical treatment of advanced endometriosis.
The fellow will also gain experience in robotic surgery, gynecologic oncology procedures and urogynecologic surgery. Members of the division also perform a number of other procedures, such as laparoscopic abdominal cerclage, uterine artery occlusion, presacral neurectomy and a full range of hysteroscopic procedures. There is a pelvic pain clinic rotation built into the fellowship schedule each year, as well as a month-long “fellowship swap” with the MIGS Program at nearby Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
We believe it is very important to incorporate evidence-based medicine into surgical practice. In an effort to support this concept, the MIGS fellow will have an opportunity to obtain a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree through the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University. This unique program prepares physicians for clinical research responsibilities and for leadership roles in evaluating and improving all aspects of health care delivery. The MPH program is fully funded as part of the fellowship.
There are ample research and teaching opportunities within BWH and through Harvard Medical School. The fellow is expected to complete a minimum of two clinical research projects to be presented at national meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Bolaji O. Ajao, MD, MPH
Program Director
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School
Director, Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery
Louise P. King, MD, JD
Associate Program Director
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School
Director of Research, Division of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery
Yoko Suzuki (2008-2010)
Private practice in California.
Sarah (Cohen) Rassier (2010-2012)
MIGS faculty at Mayo Clinic
Elmira Manoucheri (2012-2014)
Gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente in California.
Bolaji Ajao (2014-2016)
MIGS faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Nisse Clark (2016-2018)
MIGS faculty at Massachusetts General Hospital
Kristin Pepin (2018-2020)
MIGS faculty at Cornell
Shabnam Gupta (2020-2022)
MIGS faculty at Arizona Gynecology Consultants
Louisa Chatroux (2022-2024)
Current fellow
There is a high degree of involvement with the residents, both in the operating room and in didactic environments. The MIGS faculty are dedicated to teaching minimally invasive surgical techniques to fellows and residents. As the MIGS fellow advances in experience, it is expected that fellow begins mentoring residents with surgical cases as appropriate. There are several opportunities throughout the year to present lectures on MIGS topics, and we also coordinate simulation labs for the residents to practice surgical principles. Medical students are often present in the operating room and clinic, and the MIGS fellow is encouraged to instruct medical students as well.
Our group tends to favor conventional (straight sticks) laparoscopy, but we also feel it is important that a graduating fellow have sufficient experience with robot-assisted surgery. A robotic training program is provided, and the MIGS fellows participate in robotic cases with MIGS faculty as well as the additional fellowship faculty.
We have a very close working relationship with BWH colleagues in reproductive surgery and gynecologic oncology. There are also dedicated rotations in Urogynecology, Pain Clinic, and Advanced Ultrasound. Additionally, there is an annual month-long “fellowship swap” with the MIGS fellow at nearby Newton-Wellesley Hospital to ensure exposure to a variety of techniques and cases.
No, there are no obstetrics responsibilities with the MIGS fellowship.
The salary is determined by Mass General Brigham and is the standard salary for PGY5/6 at our hospital. There are options for moonlighting as a GYN provider on call as well.
No.
Past fellows have done approximately 400 to 500 cases per year.
The T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard University offers a Clinical Effectiveness Program with a focus on epidemiology and biostatistics for clinical research. This involves full time class for one to two months each summer of the fellowship, with optional electives or self-study throughout the year depending on individual interest and projects. The fellow is exempt from clinical duties during this period of full-time study over the summer.
For more information, or to apply to the Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital please see the AAGL website.
75 Francis Street
ASB 1-3
Boston MA 02130
(617) 525-8582 (phone)
(617) 975-0900 (fax)
For over a century, a leader in patient care, medical education and research, with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery.
About BWH
