Stone Centre at Vancouver General Hospital

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Vancouver, B.C.
Job Address: Stone Centre at Vancouver General Hospital/University of British Columbia Jim Pattison Pavilion 899 12th Avenue W Vancouver, B.C. V52 1M9
Contact Name: Connor Forbes, MD
Type/Focus: Endourology
Duration: 2 Years
Country: Canada
Region: North America
Contact Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Job Information

Overview:

The goal of this unique fellowship is to provide top-tiered training in both clinical and research aspects around kidney stone disease. Under the leadership of Connor Forbes, MD Ryan Paterson, MD, Ben Chew, MD, and Dirk Lange, PhD, the candidate will be well-positioned to receive expert training both clinically and academically. This will yield an academically oriented endourologist who will make significant future clinical and research contributions to endourology. By involving the fellow in our current research program pertaining to ureteral stent development, biomaterials, stone fragmentation, and the pathophysiology of kidney stone development/prevention, the fellow will receive training on how to develop and answer important research questions using a translational approach, to ultimately improve the way that we treat kidney stones.

The fellow will be directly involved with teaching local courses for visiting urologists, resident trainees and contribute to future industry-led educational activities and expert panel discussions. In preparation of being a future thought leader in endourology, the fellow will be given opportunities to talk at international meetings. This along with their introduction to various industry contacts will allow the fellow to develop key collaborations with industry and research leaders on the development of devices and new methods for the treatment of stone disease.  To achieve these goals, the fellows 2-year fellowship will be split approximately 50% research and 50% clinical responsibilities.

 

Key Faculty:

Dr Connor Forbes, MD, FRCSC (Fellowship Director): Having trained at Vanderbilt under Drs. Nicole Miller and Ryan Hsi, Dr. Forbes specializes in Endourology/Minimally Invasive Surgery with a special focus on BPH, Kidney Stones, and upper tract minimally invasive surgery. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. His practice is composed of approximately 40% BPH and 40% kidney stones. Surgically, he offers both prone and supine endoscopic, ultrasound, and fluoroscopic guided PCNL and HoLEP. While not the primary focus of the program, fellows may have the opportunity to attend select robotic/MIS procedures. From a research perspective, Dr Forbes is involved with BPH and kidney stone trials, and laboratory investigation of BPH mechanisms.

 

Ryan F. Paterson, MD, FRCSC: is an endourologist who spends approximately 70% of his time treating and managing patients with kidney stones.  A fellowship trained endourologist from Dr. Jim Lingeman at Indiana University, Dr. Paterson provides excellent clinical care of patients with stones as well as BPH, being one of a handful of urologists in Canada who is adept at the HoLEP procedure.  The fellow will spend time with Dr. Paterson learning clinical and surgical management of stones including percutaneous nephrolithotomy, ureteroscopy, shockwave lithotripsy, and metabolic management.

 

Ben Chew, MD, MSc, FRCSC: Ninety percent (90%) of his practice involves the treatment of kidney stones and 35% of his time is dedicated to research—both basic and clinical.

Dirk Lange, PhD is the Director of Basic Science Research at the Stone Centre at Vancouver General Hospital. One research area focuses on ureteral peristalsis and smooth muscle function and how these are impacted by inflammation due to indwelling stents.  No one else has examined the specific molecular mechanisms involved, and research outcomes will identify targets to prevent ureteral stent-related problems and improve their overall function.  A microbiologist by training, he is well recognized for his work in biomaterials in medicine, specifically pertaining to the prevention of indwelling device-associated infections. His project on the role of the intestinal microbiome in kidney stone formation is unique, having identified specific bacterial metabolites that prevent crystal formation and deposition in the kidneys.  Together with our clinical team, they form a unique translational team not found elsewhere in North America.  Dr. Lange will oversee the basic science research aspect of the fellow’s training, which we believe to be an important characteristic of a future clinical and academic leader.

Training Program Focus:

The program will focus on endourology, specifically kidney stones and BPH. During the fellowship, the trainee will be educated in the medical management of stones including seeing patients in the Stone Clinic. Therefore, the fellow will receive training in both surgical and metabolic aspects of managing kidney stone disease, both of which are important for a comprehensive treatment regime.

Surgical experience will consist of learning shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), ureteroscopy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) and Holmium and Thulium Laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP/ThuLEP).  Scheduling of this will include 2.5 days per week of clinical work with the split as follows: 

    • 0.5 days/week seeing patients in clinic
    • 2 days/ week performing procedures with Dr Ben Chew, Dr Ryan Paterson, and Dr Connor Forbes

The remaining 2.5 days per week will be spent on research in both the basic science laboratory as well as clinical research.

    • 0.5 days/week working on database clinical research with our Clinical Research Coordinator/Manager developing and learning IRB protocols
    • 1 day/week in the laboratory with Dr. Dirk Lange learning microbiology techniques, biomaterials, and DNA sequencing for metagenomic projects
    • 1 additional day/week of research which can be either clinical or basic science, depending on the fellow's particular goals
    • The split will be 50% research and 50% clinical activity for each of the 2 years of the fellowship.

Research Focus:

The Stone Centre is a world class centre within the UBC Department of Urologic Sciences. In addition to high volume delivery of patient care, under the leadership of Dr Ben Chew, Dr Dirk Lange, and Dr Ryan Paterson the centre is a model for successful investigator initiated inquiry and industry partnerships. The existing research infrastructure includes research associates and graduate/undergraduate students. Each year, the centre has a large number of clinical trials, clinical research projects, and basic science research projects ongoing.

The successful fellow will use the expertise from this centre to acquire the skills needed for an independent research career. We encourage applications with post-fellowship academic goals in the area of Endourology. Fellows are responsible for participating in the large, longitudinal clinical trials that are ongoing to understand how to integrate these into a future academic practice. In addition, the fellow will select several smaller, ideally self-driven projects of interest and see these through to fruition, including manuscript preparation.

Clinician researchers with expertise in basic science research techniques are rare in our field, and our unique program will graduate fellows with the basic knowledge required to begin their own translational program. Teaching the principles and mechanics of how to do research from beginning to end will be very important for their development.

Towards the end of the fellowship, we expect the trainee to have collected enough data to present at national and international meetings and to prepare and publish peer-reviewed manuscripts. The fellow, upon graduation, will receive a designation and certificate from the Endourology Society.