Fellowship in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgical Oncology
Location: Royal Columbian Hospital, Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Program Director: Shawn MacKenzie, MD, FACS, FRCS
The Division of General Surgery at the Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) offers a 1 to 2-year SLS Fellowship in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgical Oncology, under the leadership of Dr. Shawn MacKenzie. Depending on the trainee’s needs, the 1-year fellowship training program is extendable to 2 years at the request of the trainee and approval from the program director.
Currently, the RCH HPB surgical oncology is a regional program providing high-volume world-class care for complex liver, pancreas, and bile diseases for the 2 million patients in Vancouver’s Fraser Health Valley. The HPB fellowship training provides a structured education and experience in all aspects of HPB surgical care (non-transplant) to achieve an expertise in HPB Surgery. The program is set in the newly renovated Royal Columbian Hospital, a level 1 trauma centre with a busy emergency tertiary-care general surgery program. The fellowship consists of one-year postgraduate training in HPB Surgery with a focus on benign and malignant diseases of the liver, pancreas, and bile duct, including open and minimally invasive (laparoscopic & robotic) hepatectomy, pancreatectomy, and bile duct resection. In addition to complex elective HPB surgery practice, training will include exposure to trauma & emergency general surgery. Successful fellowship candidates are expected to be involved in research and scientific writing with the goal to present at the MIS Week/SLS Annual Meeting. Clinical research activity is focused on collecting and analyzing data from various databases; any relevant research or educational activity will be supported.
Basic Program Information
Interaction with Residents: Yes
Is there a General Surgery Residency at the Primary Institution?: Yes
Is there a General Surgery Residency at the Secondary Institution?: Yes
Is there a curriculum in place for fellowship?: Yes
Are there teaching conferences available for the fellow?: Yes
Is there an evaluation tool for fellow by faculty in place?: Yes
Is there an evaluation tool for faculty by fellow in place?: Yes
Basic Eligibility
1) The program accepts graduates of Canadian or U.S. Medical Schools and foreign graduates with a medical degree from a medical school listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, https://www.wdoms.org/.
2) The fellow must have completed a certified general surgery residency program and must be able to obtain either an independent medical license or an educational license to practice in British Columbia, Canada, https://www.cpsbc.ca/for-physicians/registration-licensing/applying/postgraduate/fellows.
Examinations and Certifications (one of the following three options)
1) Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Canada (RCPS(C)) certified http://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/home-e OR
2) American Board of Surgery Eligible or Certified OR
3) Applicants who hold a General Surgery specialty certificate from a Board or College outside of Canada or U.S. at the beginning of the fellowship
• Applicants trained outside of Canada in a non-English speaking region must have passed the IELTS exam, https://ieltscanadatest.com/
Citizenship and Visa Requirements (one of the three following options)
1) Canadian Citizens OR
2) Canadian Permanent Residents OR
3) Non-Canadian Citizens must obtain a temporary work permit and a Canadian Social Insurance Number (SIN), http://www.hr.ubc.ca/faculty-relations/immigration/immigration-process-for-foreign-clinical-fellows/, in a timely fashion
Additional documents
CV and letter of reference.
Fellowship timeline
- Application cycle for academic year 2025-2026 is currently accepting candidates on a rolling basis.
- Application cycle for academic year 2026-2027 starts officially on July 1, 2025.
- Nov 1, 2025: Fellowship application deadline.
- Nov 1 – Dec 15, 2025: Interviews arranged on rolling basis.
- Dec 15, 2025: Successful applicant notified.
- January 1, 2026: All required documents must be filed, including those required by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC), https://www.cpsbc.ca/for-physicians/registration-licensing/applying/postgraduate/fellows. Application to the postgraduate dean’s office at the University of British Columbia (UBC), https://postgrad.med.ubc.ca/ must also be initiated. All international medical graduates (IMGs) must submit their documents to Physicians Apply, physicianapply.ca, for source verification.
- July 1, 2026: Orientation and fellowship start date
- September 2025: MISWeek 2025 / SLS Annual Meeting in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA
Director Contact Information
Dr. Shawn MacKenzie, MD, FACS FRCS(C)
+1 (604) 374 6051
shawn.mackenzie@ubc.ca
To apply: https://sls.org/sls-fellowship-programs/sls-fellowship-application/
Forms: