In this episode of the Brown General Surgery Podcast, PGY-4 resident Evan Mitchell sits down with two Brown Surgery faculty—one of our senior Trauma surgeons, Dr. Andrew Stephen, MD and one of our newest Trauma faculty Dr. Holden Spivak, MD (fresh off fellowships in Trauma/Critical Care at Shock Trauma and MIS at Stony Brook)—to explore the evolving role of robotics in trauma and acute care surgery.

Key topics include:

• Why robotic surgery remains rare in acute trauma (hemodynamic instability, docking delays, and the risks of insufflation in unstable patients)
• Real-world exceptions: robotic splenectomy videos, liver laceration repairs, and selective use in stable obese patients with bowel injuries
• The nationwide decline in operative trauma since 1990 and the rebranding from “trauma surgeon” to “acute care surgeon”
• How emergency general surgery and elective MIS cases now sustain operative volume
• Training pathways: Is residency robotic experience now enough to skip a second fellowship year? Should future acute care surgeons pair a 1-year SCC fellowship with a dedicated MIS year?
• Will the classic 2-year AAST/ACS fellowship curriculum need to pivot toward more robotics and less ortho/neuro month-rotations?
• Job market realities: Being robotic-ready is nice, but sound decision-making (“when to operate and how”) remains the most valuable skill
• Why open surgery will never become obsolete in a field driven by source control and hemorrhage control
• Advice for trainees: seek broad exposure, lean on mentors, prioritize supportive groups, and don’t fear creative (even non-traditional) training routes

Whether you’re a med student eyeing surgical critical care, a resident deciding on fellowships, or a program director shaping tomorrow’s curriculum, this candid conversation offers an honest look at where the field stands today—and where it’s headed tomorrow.

Tune in for practical insights from surgeons who are living the transition.

In this episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast, host Dr. Evan Mitchell, MD interviews Dr. Rebecca Gologorsky, MD, one of our colorectal surgeons at Brown Surgery. The conversation dives into Dr. Gologorsky’s journey to colorectal surgery, sharing how mentorship and the variety of colorectal procedures—from open to robotic—drew her to the field. Dr. Gologorsky offers practical advice for residents and medical students applying to competitive colorectal fellowships, highlighting the value of research and personal connections. She also touches on emerging tech like single-port surgery and clarifies the colorectal surgeon lifestyle, which can vary from manageable to intense. The episode is perfect for aspiring surgeons curious about the specialty.

If anyone has comments on this episode or suggestions for topics please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]

Today we are going to dive into what it is like to be a Preliminary General Surgery Resident here at Brown. With match day right around the corner, Drs. ⁠⁠⁠Beltre⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Filtz⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠Mitchell⁠⁠⁠ sit down with Drs. Audrea Bose, Liam Watkinson, and Brooke Vogel to discuss what their experience at Brown has been like and offer some advice for those of you searching for a preliminary general surgery position.

Pulmonary emboli in Trauma patients is, unfortunately, an established and not uncommon complication we must deal with. Today, we welcome one of our own Trauma Surgeons, Dr Brent Emigh, MD to the Podcast to discuss VTE occurance and prophylaxis in Trauma patients.

Article with more information on PE in Trauma patients is HERE

Article mentioned on IVC filters can be accessed HERE

If anyone has comments on this episode or suggestions for topics please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]

Today are going to dive into Pediatric Surgery. Drs ⁠⁠Beltre⁠⁠, ⁠Filtz⁠, and ⁠⁠Mitchell⁠⁠ sit down with Dr Samantha Ahle to discuss why she choose general surgery and a career in pediatric surgery, some of the factors that go into choosing a pediatric fellowship, address some of the considerations with becoming a pediatric surgeon and, of course, touch on the often discussed work-life balance.

Dr Ahle attended George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC for medical school. She did her residency training and completed a Masters in Med Ed at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. She then went on to do a

If anyone would like to reach out to Dr Ahle about anything she discussed today or to talk more about pediatric surgery or surgical education, you can reach her at [email protected]

If anyone has ideas for topics to be covered in future episodes, please feel free to email me at [email protected]

General surgery residency can be a stressful time, especially during intern year. Four our our general surgery residents sit down to discuss their experience and offer up tips on surviving and thriving during your intern year. Shout out to Drs Beltre, Case, Mitchell, and Saymuah for grabbing the mic and continuing our local podcast for students, residents and anyone else interested in surgery. Please look forward to many more episodes to come. If anyone has ideas for topics to be covered, please email me at [email protected]

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Brown Surgery Podcast. Today we welcome Drs Daryl Appleton, Katie MacCallum and Charles Baldi for a panel discussion on healthy surgical compartmentalization of care that we all experience in our discipline. 

This was part of a grand rounds session we had in our department the week of January 15th, 2024. It is one of the more important discussions we have had as a department and I think you all will appreciate it. 

Today we have a special episode that touches on a topic that is receiving a lot of attention in the literature but is not often talked about in general surgery or training programs. 

Imposter syndrome, or phenomenon as it was originally defined, is a feature that involves fear of being discovered and exposed as an imposter, or more simply one who feels they do not belong in the role they occupy, and does not deserve the success they achieve. 

To explore this concept in greater detail, we are fortunate enough to have a diverse panel of surgeons from Brown Surgery joining us today. With the help of Dr. Daryl Appleton, we will have an open conversation with Drs Christine Emmick, Dean Roye, Andrew Luhrs and Elizabeth Tindal to explore this concept in greater detail. 

For Bio’s on our facilitator and panelists:

Dr Daryl Appleton, M.ED, CAGS, LMHC, Ed.D.

Dr Christine Emmick, MD

Dr Dean Roye, MD

Dr Andrew Luhrs, MD

Dr Elizabeth Tindal, MD

Article of interest on Imposter Syndrome in General Surgery training programs:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1072751521012308

Thanks again to all of our panelist and for making this discussion on Imposter Syndrome incredibly engaging. 

If there a specific topics and/or specialties you would like me to dive into in future episodes of this podcast my email is below so just send me a quick note. Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast.

[email protected]

Today I am excited to welcome back our Brown surgical critical care fellow, Dr Jennifer Hubbard, MD to the podcast to discuss a topic we don’t talk about enough in the general surgical world; caustic ingestion. Dr Hubbard presented this topic at a recent combined conference and I thought it would work really well as a podcast episode. I’m also going to try this out as a video podcast so let me know if you like this format. Without further ado, let’s dive into caustic ingestion.

Todays episode is geared towards medical students and junior residents as we discuss indications for chest tube placement, types of chest tubes, as well as a quick review of the 3 chamber chest tube collection system that can be daunting for new clinicians.

Joining me to discuss this topic is our current Brown surgical critical care fellow Dr Jennifer Hubbard, MD. Dr. Hubbard did her undergraduate work at Umass Amherst and then went on to medical school at Ross University before doing a general surgery residency at St Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury Connecticut. She is halfway through her surgical critical care fellowship here at Brown and we are excited to have her on the podcast today.

Podcast Chapters:

(1:29) Chest tube indications?

(2:42) Where to needle decompress?

(5:27) Difference between a standard chest tube and a pigtail catheter? 

(9:08) Technique for standard chest tube placement

(14:00) Technique for pigtail catheter placement

(15:30) Suction versus waterseal?

(20:50) Considerations when deciding on removing a chest tube

Links to Content Discussed on this episode:

Article on chest tube size and hemothorax: https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Fulltext/2021/11000/The_small__14_Fr__percutaneous_catheter__P_CAT_.6.aspx?casa_token=mwStOr036p0AAAAA:0_RiqETsgtR70oPpOAsXUO6D1TJGTlDyLQyR-j5NFWpmR-ScFah8Z0kelctpJrRNWTW0bRP1TQPJHb0MPUD31A

Behind the knife video on chest tube placement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5HuiD51Su0

One Pager on Chest tubes (and other important ICU concepts): https://onepagericu.com/chest-tubes

My email: [email protected] Please feel free to send me topics you would like me to discuss on this podcast