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Department of Surgery Heersink School of Medicine

Advanced GI/Minimally Invasive Surgery and Abdominal Wall Fellowship

The UAB Advanced GI/Minimally Invasive Surgery/Hernia and Abdominal Wall Fellowship Program, established in 2003, is fully accredited by the Fellowship Council to offer advanced training in a broad range of surgical disciplines. Our goal is excellence in advanced operative techniques, clinical care, and education that targets each fellow’s specific clinical interests, from bariatric and foregut to hernia and advanced endoscopy.

Matriculating fellows are expected to finish the fellowship skilled in the evaluation and treatment of clinical entities beyond the scope of conventional general surgery residency including morbid obesity, benign foregut pathology, and complex hernia disease. The UAB MIS Fellowship faculty have a broad range of expertise in various fields, allowing fellows to develop the skills that suit their particular interests.

Fellows have dual roles as advanced trainees in complex minimally invasive surgery and as instructors in the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery. It is expected that minimally invasive surgery fellows will transition to independent practice over the course of the year by participating in gastrointestinal surgery attending call, running their own independent inpatient general surgery service, and staffing their own weekly outpatient clinic.

It is anticipated that fellows will learn to master minimally invasive management algorithms and approaches to abdominal wall hernias including including complex minimally invasive abdominal wall reconstruction; obesity including bariatric procedures; benign foregut disease including diaphragmatic hernias, GERD, gastroparesis, and achalasia; and the use of complex endoscopy procedures.

We offer training opportunities in the following operations:

  • Robotic abdominal wall reconstruction (ETEP and transabdominal approaches to posterior release and TAR)
  • Laparoscopic/robotic ventral and inguinal hernia repair
  • Management of chronic groin pain
  • Laparoscopic/robotic gastric bypass
  • Laparoscopic/robotic sleeve gastrectomy
  • Revisional bariatric surgery
  • Laparoscopic/robotic primary and revisional diaphragmatic hernia repair
  • Laparoscopic/robotic fundoplication and implantation of magnetic sphincter device (LINX)
  • Laparoscopic/robotic gastric stimulator procedures and endoscopic pyloromyotomy (G-POEM)
  • Laparoscopic/robotic Heller myotomy and per oral endoscopic myotomy (E-POEM)
  • Complex endoscopic procedure

The UAB Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Program also offers opportunities in bariatric, foregut and hernia clinical research. Fellows are then encouraged to present their work at national meetings such as those of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Americas Hernia Society and Digestive Diseases Week.

Projects and presentations by our previous fellows include:

  • Irfan A, He K, Cochrun S, Okorji L, Parmar AD. “Towards Identifying a Learning Curve for Robotic Abdominal Wall Reconstruction: A Cumulative Sum Analysis.” Hernia, 2023 Jun; 27(3):671-676. doi: 10.1007/s10029-023-02794-z. Epub 2023 May 9.
  • Kim, G et. al. Mustian MN. Patients’ perceptions of bariatric surgery in the Deep South: the impact of health literacy. Oral Presentation at SAGES 2025; Long Beach, CA. Mustian MN, Naik G, Wood LN, Grams J, Wong K, Stahl R, Chu DI. Early postoperative outcomes following bariatric surgery in the United States: Are racial disparities improving? Surg Endosc. 2024 Jul 26. doi: 10.1007/s00464-024-11056-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39060625.
  • Mustian MN, McLeod C, Naik G, English N, Stahl R, Wong K, Grams J, Chu DI. Bariatric Surgery Access and Quality in the Deep South. Poster Presentation at Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract 2024; Washington DC.
  • Okorji LM, Giri O, Luque-Sanchez K, Parmar AD. Computed tomography measurements to predict need for robotic transversus abdominis release: a single institution analysis. Hernia. 2024 Mar 20. doi: 10.1007/s10029-024-03007-x.
  • Dutta P, Kim G, English N, Naik G, Mustian M, Corey B, Parmar AD. “Robotic Flank Hernia Repair: A Single Institution Consecutive Case Series.” Hernia 2025. Mustian MN, Wong K. Surgical management of achalasia. Abdom Radiol (NY). 2025 Jun;50(6):2351-2357. doi: 10.1007/s00261-024-04664-3. Epub 2024 Nov 25. PMID: 39585375; PMCID: PMC12069126.
  • Mustian MN, Wong K. Surgical management of achalasia. Abdom Radiol (NY). 2025 Jun;50(6):2351-2357. doi: 10.1007/s00261-024-04664-3. Epub 2024 Nov 25. PMID: 39585375; PMCID: PMC12069126.

How to Apply?

Applications are accepted through The Fellowship Council.

Contact Us

Contact:
205-975-3000

Mailing Address:
Boshell Building 561
1808 7th Ave. S.
Birmingham, AL 35294