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Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgical Oncology Fellowship
Program Director:
Stacey Su, MD
Assistant Program Director:
Louis F. Chai, MD
Current Fox Chase 2025-2026 Thoracic Fellows:
Gloryanne Gautier Nieves, MD
The Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgical Oncology Fellowship is a non-Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) fellowship. The one-year program is approved and accredited by the Fellowship Council. Each year, the program accepts one trainee through the Fellowship Council match. It is not intended as an alternative path of eligibility to be certified or credentialed by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, but rather as an enhancement for specialized training within thoracic surgery.
About the Fellowship
Established in 2010, the fellowship offered by the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center/Temple Health is a comprehensive training program in advanced non-cardiac thoracic surgery. The fellowship is designed to provide intensive exposure to minimally invasive thoracic surgical procedures in the setting of a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center. The program features extensive experience in robotic-assisted surgeries across the spectrum of thoracic surgery in a high-volume practice that frequently involves complex oncological cases. The fellowship rounds out the surgical training with robust educational opportunities in oncology-specific care through multi-disciplinary tumor boards, morbidity and mortality conferences, operative case conferences, clinics where fellows develop skills to formulate thorough treatment plans, and weekly didactic education in conjunction with the cardiothoracic surgery fellows at Temple University Hospital – Main Campus.
This fellowship meets the needs of:
- General surgery residents who would like to spend an additional year before starting a job or thoracic surgery fellowship
- General thoracic surgeons seeking to improve minimally invasive surgical skills
- Practicing surgeons
- Surgeons who may have recently completed a thoracic surgery fellowship
- Cardiothoracic surgeons who wish to re-focus their practice on general thoracic surgery and thoracic surgical oncology
- International surgeons seeking clinical experience in the US (the candidate must be able to obtain a Pennsylvania medical license). Completion of general surgical training is mandatory.
Candidates will participate in and perform a full range of advanced procedures including:
- Minimally invasive lung resections (Robotic or VATS wedge, segmentectomy, lobectomy, sleeve resections)
- Minimally invasive esophagectomy (Robotic)
- Chest Wall resection and reconstruction (Open, Robotic)
- Thymectomy (Open, Robotic)
- Benign foregut – Hiatal hernias, reflux disease (Robotic)
- Bronchoscopy, EBUS, EGD. Additional experiences on interventional pulmonary and GI services available for advanced therapies and techniques.
Fellows will also be involved in complex general thoracic surgical procedures such as resection of superior sulcus tumors, pneumonectomies, extrapleural pneumonectomy or extended pleurectomy and decortication for mesothelioma, and lung resections after induction therapy as cases arise. Additional opportunity may be available for rotation at Temple University Hospital – Main Campus to gain further clinical exposure.
Fellows are encouraged and supported to participate in clinical research and present at national and international meetings. Past fellows have attended STS, AATS, GTSC, and ECTSS annual meetings in addition to other local, regional, and national meetings.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should apply through the Fellowship Council website. For more information on the timeline for application, please see the website for more details regarding each application cycle. In general, rank lists are submitted the first week of November with matching/scrambling occurring the third week of November. If additional questions regarding the program specifically or logistics arise, please feel free to contact us through the information below.
Applicants will be reviewed by the program and interviews will be offered virtually to select applicants.
The start date for the fellowship is August 1st of each academic year.
Contact And Address
Angela Knauss
GME Sr. Program Manager
Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Avenue, C-308
Philadelphia, PA 19111-2497
Phone: 215-313-8202
[email protected]
Stacey Su, MD
Program Director
Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19111
[email protected]
Louis F. Chai, MD
Associate Program Director
Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19111
[email protected]
