BURN FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Introduction
The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) is located in Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Iowa City is a college town of 70,000 located on the banks of the Iowa River in eastern Iowa. UIHC is easily accessed by Interstates 80 and 380 as well as the Eastern Iowa Area Airport. The UIHC is a tertiary referral center for the state of Iowa and surrounding states. Information about living in Iowa City while doing a fellowship can be found at the website for the UI Graduate Medical Education Office.
The Burn Treatment Center was established at UIHC in 1974, and moved to its current location on the top floor of the hospital in 1985. The Burn Treatment Center is the only burn center in the state of Iowa, and has been verified as an adult and pediatric burn center by the American College of Surgeons/American Burn Association since 1996. The Burn Service is part of the Division of Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care within the Department of Surgery.
The Division of Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care offers a one year Burn Surgery Fellowship. The goal of our program is to provide the trainee with an in-depth experience in the management of the entire spectrum of burn and complex wound care in the setting of a large university teaching hospital. The successful trainee will have experience involving burn and complex wound treatment, burn reconstruction, burn related research, and prevention. Although there is no independent Burn Fellowship accreditation, a second fellowship year of Surgical Critical Care is encouraged, allowing the trainee to sit for the American Board of Surgery Examination in Surgical Critical Care.
Electronic applications for Burn Fellowship for 2008 will be accepted by the Burn Treatment Center Director, Barbara Latenser, MD, FACS. Ideal candidates for our program must have completed or be completing an approved General Surgery or Plastic Surgery residency and be eligible for certification by the American Board of Surgery. Applications from candidates with different qualifications such as a J-1 visa or having completed only a portion of a general/plastic surgery residency will be accepted on an individual basis. Our program selects one candidate each year.
There have been six graduates of the program since its inception in 1982.Structure and Administration
The fellow will have clinical duties exclusively caring for patients on the Burn Service or patients on the Plastic Surgery Service for whom the burn fellow has provided surgical intervention. Under the supervision of the attending burn surgeon, the fellow will be responsible for guiding the junior residents in all aspects of burn care. The fellow will also coordinate the Morbidity and Mortality reporting and presentation duties. Burn care lectures to the residents, medical students, and other staff members are encouraged.
Volume of Surgery
The Burn Service performs approximately 375 operations each year at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The staff assists on all operations. Each fellow can expect to perform 210 major procedures during their fellowship. Although the preponderance of surgical cases involves acute burn surgery, complex wound care and burn reconstruction procedures are also part of the surgical cases. Procedures such as escharotomies, bronchoscopies, and conscious sedation are all performed in the Burn Treatment Center on a regular basis.
Organization of the Burn Surgery Service
The Burn Surgery Service at the UIHC consists of four faculty, one burn fellow, one second year resident and one intern. The call coverage is from home and is primarily back up for the Burn Service intern.
The fellow will round daily with the resident team providing close supervision, and will round with the charge nurse and rehab when available. Weekend rounds will be limited to weekends when the R1 is rounding. Nighttime/weekend call responsibilities include backing up the R1 when s/he is on call.
The Physician Assistant on the service ultimately works directly with the attending; however, their input should be included in patient care. The residents and fellow have no supervisory role over the Physician Assistant.
Resident Educational Program and Teaching Conferences
Multidisciplinary educational lectures are held weekly, providing instruction on burn resuscitation, inhalation injuries, electrical and chemical burns, necrotizing acute soft tissue infections, and wound care. Morbidity and Mortality conference is held weekly within the Department of Surgery. The Division of Trauma, Burns, and Surgical Critical Care holds a monthly Morbidity and Mortality conference where Burn Service cases are discussed. Journal Club is presented once a month as is the Research Conference. The burn fellow is allowed one national meeting per year that is financially supported by the Burn Treatment Center Director. Additional meeting time if the fellow is making a scientific presentation is negotiable.
Facilities
Clinical
These include the 16 bed Burn Treatment Center and the Burn Clinic within the 953 bed University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The 16 bed burn unit is a fully equipped state of the art burn treatment center capable of handling all pediatric and adult burns from admission to rehabilitation. Burn Clinic is held within the Burn Treatment Center. There are approximately 2,500 outpatient visits annually to the Burn Clinic. All acute burn patients are evaluated within the Burn Treatment Center.
The fellow will round daily with the resident team providing close supervision, and will round with the charge nurse and rehab when available. Weekend rounds will be limited to weekends when the R1 is rounding. Nighttime/weekend call responsibilities include backing up the R1 when s/he is on call. We strictly adhere to RRC guidelines regarding work schedules and duty hours.
The Physician Assistant on the service ultimately works directly with the attending; however, their input should be included in patient care. The residents and fellow have no supervisory role over the Physician Assistant.
Research
There are animal research laboratories available within the UIHC. Clinical projects are continually being conducted by burn faculty. The fellow is encouraged to participate in the research projects currently underway or select new research projects.
Full-time Burn Faculty
Barbara A. Latenser, MD, FACS
Clara L. Smith Professor of Burn Treatment
Director, Burn Treatment Center
Dr. Latenser is a graduate of the University of Nevada School of Medicine and General Surgery Residency. She completed her fellowship in Trauma at the University of Pennsylvania and is board certified in general surgery. She joined the University of Iowa in 2004. Her research interests include burn resuscitation, necrotizing acute soft tissue infections, and abdominal compartment syndrome. She is Vice Chair of the International Burn Care Committee of the American Burn Association.
Gerald P. Kealey, MD, FACS
Professor and Chief, Division of Trauma, Burn, Surgical Critical Care
Dr. Kealey is a graduate of the University of Iowa School of Medicine and General Surgery Residency. He joined the University of Iowa in 1985. He is board certified in general surgery with Added Qualifications in Surgical Critical Care. His research interests include infectious disease control, pain research, pharmacology, and hypertrophic scar control. Dr. Kealey is the President-elect of the American Burn Association.
Part Time Burn Faculty
Lucy A. Wibbenmeyer, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Dr. Wibbenmeyer is a graduate of the University of Tennessee School of Medicine. She completed her residency in general surgery at St. Louis University and her fellowship in Surgical Critical Care at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Wibbenmeyer joined the University of Iowa in 1997. She is board certified in general surgery with Added Qualifications in Surgical Critical Care. Her research interests include burn epidemiology, infections in burn patients, and novel techniques in monitoring critically ill burn patients. Dr. Wibbenmeyer has multiple funded clinical research projects currently underway.
Timothy D. Light, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery
Dr. Light is a graduate of New York Medical College. He did his general surgery residency and fellowships in surgical critical care, burns, and trauma at Washington Hospital Center. He is board certified in general surgery with Added Qualifications in Surgical Critical Care. He joined the University of Iowa in 2006 and is working part-time 2007-2009 while he is enrolled in the University of Iowa’s Masters of Public Health Program. His research interests include resuscitation with Vitamin C, burn wound depth and progression, and burn team modeling.