Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship Program

 

Fellowship Director

Dr. Elena Tunitsky-Bitton

Fellowship Program Coordinator

Waleska Barreto

Hartford Hospital
Women’s Health Services
80 Seymour Street
Hartford, CT 06102
Phone: 860.972.1165
E-mail: waleska.barreto@hhchealth.org

Program and Department Statistics

  • Length of program: 3 years
  • Number of fellows: 3 (1, 1, 1)

Hartford Hospital Statistics

  • Number of hospital beds: 867, additional 97 on campus beds at Connecticut Children’s
  • Number of residency programs: 5 based at HH; 14 based at University of Connecticut
  • Number of fellowship programs: 10 based at HH; 11 based at University of Connecticut

Fellow Benefits and Facilities

  • Salary: PGY-5 $76,170, PGY-6 $78,263, PGY-7 $81,067
  • 3 weeks paid vacation/year (vacation requests must be submitted 2 months in advance; time cannot be accrued); additional 1 week of professional/educational leave (USMLE Step III exam, ABOG Boards exam, fellowship interviews, national meetings)
  • Sick leave: additional paid leave up to six months with program director approval. In the event of serious injury or prolonged illness additional paid leave may be granted (protracted sick leave may require extending training period to meet all residency requirements).
  • Maternity Leave: Full salary paid when medically unable to work, requires physician's affidavit identifying the leave as a "medical necessity", typically six to eight weeks following delivery. Employee benefits continue.
  • Free Parking
  • Health/Dental/Long-term Disability/Professional Liability/Group Life Insurance
  • FPMRS Education funds available for fellows to attend conferences if they are an author on poster/platform presentation at national meeting
  • Moon-lighting opportunity available
  • Excellent on-campus library and extensive online resources that can be accessed from both the residents’ office and from home.

Center for Education, Simulation and Innovation (CESI)

CESI is Connecticut’s first and largest simulation center. It is an international destination for training, education and medical device development, located right on the Hartford Hospital campus. In addition to the world-class skills lab the center houses a large bio-skills (wet lab) facility.

Available for all residents and fellows. FPMRS fellows regularly take advantage of this incredible resource. Annual New England FPMRS Surgical Course takes is hosted by our division. Dr. Tunitsky has developed and directed the course since 2013. The course offers simulation and cadaver-based learning of advanced surgical procedures from the Hartford Hospital FPMRS faculty as well as from the vising faculty from other institutions in the New England Area.

Learn more at cesihhc.org.

Research

We place a high value on research and scholarship and emphasize integration of research productivity throughout the three year training program. The program provides each fellow with mentorship, opportunities and the time to become independent scientific investigators.

The current design of our research curriculum enables fellows to start projects in their first month of fellowship. Our Division has a strong and long-standing relationship with Hartford Hospital’s Research Administration program. Fellows are immersed in the full breadth of research development including protocol development, IRB submission, data collection and analysis and writing of abstracts and manuscripts. Through our long-standing relationship with the Research Administration program, fellows in our FPMRS program are provided the tools for becoming independent researchers including help with proposal design, biostatistics, data management, grant writing and clinical trials. FPMRS fellows participate in monthly structured statistical education sessions with Hartford Healthcare senior data analyst, David O’Sullivan, PhD. These are one-on-one didactic sessions attended only by the division of FPMRS with a focus on biostatistics using the textbook Biostatistics: The Bare Essentials by Norman & Streiner.

Our fellows are encouraged to submit research proposals for internal and external funding opportunities. Several fellows have received prestigious research grants available through Hartford Hospital. They have successfully completed, presented and published multiple robust clinical trials and number of other studies. These studies have been recognized through grants, as well as regional and national awards.

Fellows are also provided the opportunity to spend dedicated time in a basic science laboratory or develop translational projects with the help of basic science faculty should they be interested in this. In accordance with ABOG requirements, fellows have 12, one month blocks devoted to research dispersed throughout the 3 years of fellowship.