Rolling admission · Istanbul · Delivered in English
Follow how a general surgery department assesses resectability, plans liver, pancreatic and biliary operations with its multidisciplinary partners and manages the post-operative course — observing hepatopancreatobiliary lists where they are scheduled during your dates.
What you see depends on the department's clinical calendar during your placement; the list below describes the department's usual scope, not a guaranteed programme.
In pancreatic cancer, the operation is often the final step in a longer sequence of decisions. Imaging classifies a tumour as resectable, borderline resectable or locally advanced according to its contact with the superior mesenteric artery, coeliac axis, common hepatic artery and the portal–superior mesenteric venous confluence. Borderline and locally advanced disease usually leads to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and restaging, after which the surgical question is revisited. A jaundiced patient raises the question of whether to drain the bile duct before surgery or proceed directly to resection — a decision the surgeons share with the endoscopists. Observers follow this reasoning at the multidisciplinary meeting before they enter theatre.
Liver surgery turns on a different balance: how much liver can be removed safely. The future liver remnant, the quality of the background liver — steatosis, chemotherapy-associated injury or cirrhosis — and portal hypertension define the limits. For colorectal liver metastases, staged resections or measures to enlarge the remnant may be considered, and the sequence with the bowel primary is agreed with the colorectal team. For hepatocellular carcinoma, resection is weighed against ablation and transplantation according to tumour burden and liver function, which is where the transplant team's view enters the discussion.
After surgery, the ward round carries much of the learning. Pancreatic resection brings the risk of post-operative pancreatic fistula, delayed gastric emptying and haemorrhage; liver resection brings bile leak and post-hepatectomy liver failure. The team reads drain output, blood results and the patient's trajectory to decide when to intervene and when to wait, within an enhanced-recovery pathway that begins at pre-operative assessment. The department's morbidity and mortality meeting closes the loop. An observer who follows a patient from the meeting room to discharge sees why HPB care depends as much on these decisions as on the operation itself.
This page narrows the general surgery route to liver, pancreatic and biliary resection. Liver transplantation belongs to the organ transplantation route and its own focus page, while ERCP and endoscopic ultrasound — the endoscopic side of the same patients' care — sit with gastroenterology.
Graduate physicians and surgical trainees heading towards general or HPB surgery who want to see how resectability, multidisciplinary planning and post-operative care fit together; clinical-year students can apply, though much of the value lies in the case discussion.
General surgeons with a specialist qualification who name HPB surgery as their interest; the attachment stays within general surgery, the department sets the allocation, and liver and pancreatic cases sit alongside its other lists.
Both routes are strictly observational: observers attend theatre and clinic without patient contact, do not scrub or assist, and are not assessed on any procedure.
| Clinical Observership | Clinical Fellowship | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 1, 2 or 4 weeks (extension possible on request) | 12 to 24 months, agreed with the host department |
| Who it is for | Medical students in clinical years and graduate physicians from outside Turkey | Recognised specialists and family physicians seeking advanced exposure beyond standard specialty training |
| Format | Full-time, strictly observational — outpatient clinics, operating theatre, ward rounds, case discussions | Extended observational attachment to one department: daily practice, service structure and specific techniques |
| Certificate | Certificate of attendance issued by the host hospital and signed by its Medical Director | Certificate on completion issued under the accreditation of the affiliated university school of medicine |
| Start | Rotations typically begin on a Monday; dates are agreed individually | Start date planned around the date you request and the department's capacity |
One online application for both routes. State Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery as your focus in your objectives; ATDERA reviews the file and prepares it for the General Surgery department, then replies with next steps, typically within two working days.
Already started? The application page picks up where you left off.
ATDERA Global Limited (Companies House No. 17173428, registered in England and Wales) coordinates this programme for a university teaching hospital in Istanbul. ATDERA is not a hospital and does not provide clinical care; admission decisions and certificates are the host hospital's.
One online application covers both routes and all twenty-one specialties — details, programme choice and documents in five short steps. ATDERA reviews the file and replies with next steps, typically within two working days.
