Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver, a bustling metropolitan area nestled between the West Coast Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, is constantly ranked one of the most liveable and beautiful cities in the world. Try different cuisines, sunbathe in English Bay, and visit the numerous museums and art galleries downtown. Lovers of the outdoors also have a vast array of waterfalls, mountains, and lakes to explore, all within an hour from downtown. Vancouver is also a top-destination in the winter, with many snow-capped mountains to choose from including the world-renowned slopes of Whistler.

Welcome to the UBC HPB Fellowship Program!

UBC offers a 2-year Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and Abdominal Transplant Surgery Fellowship program. Each respective program is AHPBA-accredited and ASTS accredited. The group of supervising HPB surgeons consists of 5 HPB and abdominal transplant surgeons along with transplant Urologists that contribute to our local HPB/transplantation culture. Our program provides a collegial and inclusive environment that is rich in clinical, operative and academic opportunity ideally suited for high-level aspiring HPB surgeons.

Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) is the tertiary HPB hospital of the province, the only liver and pancreas transplant centre in the province of British Columbia with a large catchment area. The HPB team works closely with Urologic oncology, Gynecology Oncology and the Surgical Oncology teams providing multi-disciplinary surgical care. VGH also serves as a quaternary trauma centre and the HPB team is an active participant in liver/pancreas trauma.

Our fellows participate in a high volume of HPB oncology, organ procurements, abdominal organ transplantation and multi-disciplinary surgical care with varied surgical specialities. We believe in mentoring and supporting our fellows in a graduated process. They are considered to be both the leaders of the team and key components of clinical care. A graduated level of responsibility and autonomy occurs during your training, with the expectation of technical excellence and proficiency with major HPB surgeries, retrievals, and abdominal transplant surgery. The operative volume is high with the average case volume per fellow far exceeding the AHPBA caseload requirements.

Our expectation is to train and graduate technically excellent surgeons. We provide a robust academic curriculum with weekly teaching rounds, regular journal club meetings, regular Morbidity and Mortality rounds and also recommend our fellows to attend our weekly Liver and Pancreas tumor board rounds. We provide many opportunities for clinical outcomes research in HPB and transplantation with the expectation for our fellows to publish during their two year training.

We invite you to explore our website, or email us with any questions you may have regarding our fellowship. Hope to see you in Vancouver.

Dr. Michael Bleszynski and Dr. Maja Segedi

Program Director and Associate Program Director