Fellow involvement is linked to better outcomes of colorectal surgery

“I have to completely agree with that, there are certainly things that we can’t prove. All we can say is that fellows are associated with this reduction in mortality, but we can’t say why ... ” Dr. Chen concurred. “I can’t say the fellow is the reason. There are too many variables involved, one of those being that if you have a colorectal fellow, you are probably at a specialty center with a colorectal fellowship or oncology fellowship and that could be the reason why you have lower mortality, better outcomes. It is just because of the staff and the facility that’s equipped to take those complex cases. So it could have nothing to do with the fellows at all.”