New colorectal fellow begins residency program at Franciscan St. Francis Health

MOORESVILLE, Ind. -- Phuong Nguyen, M.D., has been chosen for the 2012 fellowship in the Indiana University School of Medicine Colon and Rectal Residency Program at Kendrick Colon and Rectal Center at Franciscan St. Francis Health. He will begin his residency July 1, 2012.

This is the fourth year of the program, the only one of its kind in Indiana.

Nguyen received his medical degree from the Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee, Fla. He is completing his general surgery residency at Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, N.C.

Upon completing his fellowship training, Nguyen will be eligible for the qualifying and certifying exams of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.

The residency program was established in 2008 through a partnership between IU, Franciscan St. Francis and Kendrick and marks the first educational joint venture between Franciscan St. Francis and the medical school, the nation’s second-largest academic medical institution.

The teaching staff comprises surgeons with Kendrick Colon and Rectal Center and assistant clinical professors with the IU School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery. They are Drs. Olaf Johansen, Fred Lane, R. Barry Melbert, Bridget Sanders, Dipen Maun and Ben Tsai from Kendrick; and Drs. Bruce Robb and Virgilio George from IU.

More information about the fellowship is available by calling 317-834-9618 or at the Kendrick website www.kendrickcenter.com, or the IU School of Medicine site, www.medicine.iu.edu.

In 2007, St. Francis established the Colorectal Cancer Center center of excellence for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer. It’s one of the largest programs of its kind in Indiana. To learn more about its services, go to www.stfrancishospitals.org/Cancer/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=38.