IU, Kendrick fellow begins training program at St. Francis-Mooresville

MOORESVILLE, Ind. – Mark Casillas Jr., M.D., M.S., will begin a fellowship program July 1 with the Indiana University School of Medicine Colon and Rectal Residency Program at Kendrick Regional Center for Colon and Rectal Care, Franciscan/St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers.

Casillas is the third fellow in this colorectal residency program, the first of its kind in central Indiana.

Casillas received his master’s degree from the University of Alabama and his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. He is completing his general surgery residency at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Upon completing his fellowship training, Casillas 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, St. Francis and Kendrick Regional Center and marks the first educational joint venture between St. Francis and the medical school, the nation’s second-largest academic medical institution.

The teaching staff comprises surgeons with Kendrick Regional 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.

Sanders was appointed program director in May 2010; Maun serves as associate program director.

More information about the fellowship is available by calling 317-834-9618 or at the Kendrick Regional Center for Colon and Rectal Care 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