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Program Director(s):
Alan A Saber
Adam Kopelan

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Description:

The Advanced MIS/Bariatric surgery Fellowship program at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center is a one-year comprehensive training program designed to produce a competent Bariatric/minimally invasive surgeon who able to pursue an academic or private career with proficiency in all aspects of MIS surgery including bariatric surgery, foregut surgery, diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy, complex ventral hernia, robotics, and reduced port laparoscopic surgery.  We have a State of the Art 4 k MIS equipment with ICG capability to enhance the operative experience. We are a destination center for complex bariatric and foregut surgery. Moreover, the fellow will be exposed to revisional  bariatric and foregut surgery. Routine video recording of all procedures will enhance surgical skills acquisition by the fellows. As proficiency and efficiency are demonstrated, the fellow will be afforded increased autonomy with close supervision available. The fellow will develop skills to handle complex GI procedures and difficult abdomen. A key component of the training program is bariatric and metabolic surgery which provides a minimally invasive approach to bariatrics with a dedicated, multidisciplinary bariatric clinic for workup and support. The fellow will work closely with our multidisciplinary team from the start of the patient’s weight loss journey all the way to postoperative follow up.

Upon completion of training, the fellow will be able to set up and start comprehensive programs for the treatment of obesity and minimally invasive surgery and will be equipped to become a leader in this field.

In addition, fellows will be involved with general surgery residents as well as medical students’ education. Our fellows are encouraged to participate in research and presenting papers and videos at national meetings.

Basic Program Information:

  • Location: Newark, New Jersey
  • Primary Program Site: Newark Beth Israel Medical Center
  • Primary Hospital: Total bed size, # OR's, # Surgical ICU beds: Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, 665 beds, 20 OR
  • Secondary Program Site: NA
  • Secondary Hospital: Total bed size, # OR's, # Surgical ICU beds: NA
  • Clinic locations and schedule:

    The clinic located at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. 2 half days clinic.

  • University Affiliation: Rutgers School of medicine
  • School of Medicine Affiliation: Rutgers School of medicine
  • Year Program and/or Designation Established: 2021
  • Number of Faculty: 2
  • % of Program Clinical: 90
  • % of Program Research: 10

Additional Program Information:

  • Interaction with Residents: Some cases shared
  • Is there a General Surgery Residency at the Primary Institution? Yes
  • Is there a General Surgery Residency at the Secondary Institution? No
  • Is there a curriculum in place for fellowship? Yes
  • Is there a skills lab at the institution with fellow access? 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
  • Papers Accepted For Publication where PD was an author: 100
  • Publications that Involved Input from the Fellow: 5
  • Are funds available for the Fellow to attend conferences? Yes

Malpractice Insurance Information:

  • The fellow(s) only works as a fellow, i.e. does not/will not have attending privileges and the program provides the following:
    Claims-based malpractice coverage including a tail for the statute of limitations

Contact Information For Questions:

Tracy Morel
Phone: 973-926-7887
Fax: 973-391-8511
Email: tracy.morel@rwjbh.org
Web:

Facilities

Dry Lab
Library
Administrative Support
Clinical Research
Simulation Lab

Citizenship and Visa Requirements:

    US Citizens
    US Permanent Residents (Green Card)
    Canadian Citizens
    Canadian Permanent Residents
    Non U.S./Non Canadian Citizens
    Non U.S. Citizens eligible for/with planned J-1 Visa during their fellowship (For U.S. Fellowship Programs)
    Non U.S. Citizens eligible for/with planned H-1B Visa during their fellowship (For U.S. Fellowship Programs)
    Non U.S. Citizens eligible for/with planned O-1 Visa during their fellowship (For U.S. Fellowship Programs)

Medical School Requirements:

    We accept graduates of U.S. or Canadian Medical Schools and Foreign Medical Schools
    We accept graduates of Foreign Medical Schools only if ECFMG Certified

Examinations and Certifications:

    Applicants must have passed the USMLE/COMLEX Step 1, 2, & 3 exams
    Applicants must have passed the USMLE/COMLEX Step 1 & 2 exams or the Medical Council of Canada Evaluation Exam (MCCEE)
    Applicants who are ABS or Canadian Board Eligible or Certified
    Applicants who hold a General Surgery specialty certificate from a Board or College outside of U.S. or Canada at the beginning of the fellowship
    Applicants must be AOBS (American Osteopathic Board of Surgery) eligible or certified

 

Licensure Requirements and Information:

New Jeresy state medical license is required

Accreditation Status Accreditation Period Length of Accreditation
Accredited for Advanced GI MIS/Bariatrics 2023-2026 3

Fellowship Opportunity # 1

  • Number of Positions Available: 1
  • Type of Fellowship: Advanced GI MIS/Bariatrics
  • Duration: 1 year
  • Start Day: August 1
  • End Day: July 31
  • Is this a salaried position? Yes
  • It is a requirement that the salary must be commensurate to a PGY 6 or greater in the same city. Does your program meet this requirement? Yes
  • Is the salary guaranteed for the year? Yes
  • Is there funding available beyond salary for meeting attendance, research, etc? Yes
  • Is the salary dependent on call? No
  • Is the Fellow on call? Yes
    What are the on call requirements?
  • What are the estimated fellow weekly work hours?
  • It is a requirement that Health Insurance be provided. Do you provide health insurance to your fellows? Yes
  • Teaching Responsibilities: Yes
  • Courses/Academic Presentations: Yes
  • Does reimbursement for the above make up part of the salary? No
  • Does the fellowship contract include a non-compete clause? No

Clinical Outpatient Experience

The fellow will be exposed to preoperative and postoperative care of the surgical patient through 2 half days outpatient clinic a week.

Research/Scholarship Resources

The fellow is expected to submit at least one clinical and/or research project or video during the fellowship to a National or Regional Society meeting or journal. The routine video recording give the fellow the opportunity not only to learn tips and tricks in OR, but also to have video presentation at national meetings. The program director has an extensive video liberay for over the past 15 years. This represents an excellent audiovisual educational tool not only for routine procedures but also for uncommon surgical problems.

Program Director(s) Detailed Information

Dr. Alan A Saber MD, FACS, FASMBS

  • At Institution Since: 2018
  • Program Director Since : 2021
  • Board Certification:

Society Memberships

ACS

ASMBS

Other

IFSO

Areas of Expertise

Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery, Minimally Invasive Foregut, Surgery, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Minimally Invasive Acute Care Surgery, Diagnostic and Therapeutic UGI endoscopy,

Teaching Qualifications

COMMITTEES

IFSO Communication Committee                                                                     

Academy of Master Surgeon Educators ACS                                                      

Surgery Champion, Improving Surgery Care and Recovery (ISCR) ACS                          

Newark Beth Israel Medical Executive Committee                                                          

Quality Committee ACS, MBSAQIP                                                                              

Program Committee, ASMBS                                                                                        

Video Education Subcommittee of the Program Committee, ASMBS; Chair                                                         

Video Committee ASMBS, Chairman                                                                            

Emerging Technology and procedures, ASMBS,

Co Chair Committee ASMBS, Chairman                                                                         

Emerging technique& emerging technology IFSO                                                           

Q A committee, The Brooklyn Hospital Center                                                               

Reviewer, Surgery for obesity & related diseases                                                                             

Reviewer, Surgical innovation                                                                                      

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

  1. Video Coordinator for IFSO Miami October 2021
  2. Organizer “Revisions and Complications in Bariatric Surgery: Live Surgery & Video Demonstrations Workshops”. Bahrain, November 2019
  3. Live Surgery: laparoscopic Reversal of one anastomosis gastric bypass. Revisions and Complications in Bariatric Surgery: Live Surgery and Video Demonstrations Workshops. Bahrain, November 2019
  4. Live Surgery: laparoscopic conversion of gastric sleeve to one anastomosis gastric bypass. Revisions and Complications in Bariatric Surgery: Live Surgery and Video Demonstrations Workshops. Bahrain, November 2019
  5. Moderator, Top videos, Obesity Week, Las Vegas, NV, November 2019
  6. Coordinator and Presiding Officer, video highlights of Clinical Congress 2018. American College of Surgery Annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco, CA. October 2019.
  7. Panelist, International Surgery video session. American College of Surgery Annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco, CA. October 2019.
  8. Chair, IFSO Bariatric Cinema, IFSO Madrid, Spain. September 2019
  9. Moderator of video session, Management of the duodenum. Obesity Week, Nashville, TN November 2018.
  10. Chair “ACS video from ACS library session”, American College of Surgery Annual Clinical Congress in Boston, MA. October 2018.
  11. Moderator of Video session, Complications of Bariatric surgery. 23rd World Congress of the International Federation of Surgical Obesity and Metabolic Disorders – IFSO. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. September 2018.
  12. Panelist, Video Debate Session: The hard choice of the best revisional procedure. 23rd World Congress of the International Federation of Surgical Obesity and Metabolic Disorders – IFSO. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. September 2018.
  13. Moderator of Stump the experts, Obesity Weekend, New York, NY, June 2018.
  14. Chair Postgraduate course, Technique and controversies Malabsorptive, Obesity Week. National Harbor, MA, November 2017.
  15. Co moderator, Video Bar 2. Obesity Week. National Harbor, MA. November 2017.
  16. Chair ACS video library session 1, American College of Surgery Annual Clinical Congress in San Diego, CA. October 2017.

Summary of Qualifications

BOARD CERTIFICATION    

American Board of Obesity Medicine                                                               

American Board of Surgeons                                                                           

 Recertified American Board of Surgeons                                                            

CURRENT POSITIONS

Clinical Professor of Surgery, Rutgers School of Medicine                               

Surgeon Champion, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center                                                

Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR) program

Surveyor for the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery                                          

Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP)

American College of Surgery

Director of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery                                                                 

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center

RWJ Barnabas Health, Newark, NJ             

EDUCATION

Master’s Degree in surgery, with honors                                                                                       

Doctor of Medicine, with honors                                                                                    

Alexandria University School of Medicine, Alexandria, Egypt                                         

 

POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

Clinical Fellow                                                                                                            

Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery and Bariatric Surgery

Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL

Chief Surgical Resident                                                                                                 

Surgical Resident                                                                                                          

Surgical Research Fellow                                                                                              

Surgical Resident/Surgical Intern                                                                                   

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY

Chief Surgical Resident                                                                                                 

Surgical Intern/Surgical Resident                                                                                   

Alexandria University School of Medicine, Alexandria, Egypt

 

EDITORIAL BOARDS

Associate Editor, Obesity Surgery                                                                                  

Editorial Board IFSO Video Case report                                                                          

Editorial Board, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases                                              

Associate editor, Surgical Techniques Development                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

KEY PUBLICATIONS

  1. Hamid HKS, Emile SH, Saber AA, Dincer M, de Moura DTH, Gilissen LPL, Almadi MA, Montuori M, Vix M, Perisse LGS, Quezada N, Garofalo F, Pescarus R Customized bariatric stents for sleeve gastrectomy leak: are they superior to conventional esophageal stents? A systematic review and proportion meta-analysis. Surg Endosc. 2021 Mar;35(3):1025-1038.
  2.  Hamid HKS, Saber AA. Surgery in the era of COVID-19: implications for laparoscopy and natural-orifice endoscopic surgery.  Ann Laparosc Endosc Surg 2020 
  3. Hamid HKS, Marc-Hernández A, Saber AA. Transversus abdominis plane block versus thoracic epidural analgesia in colorectal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2021 Mar;406(2):273-282.
  4. Hamid HKS, Saber AA. Surgeon-administered transversus abdominis plane block for robot-assisted surgery. J Robot Surg. 2020 Dec;14(6):921-922.
  5. Dave DM,  Saber AA. Internal Hernias after Single-Anastomosis Gastric Bypass: A case report and Review of the literatures. Submitted for publication.
  6. Hamid H, Emile HS, Saber AA. Laparoscopic guided TAP block for postoperative pain management in MIS: Systematic Review & Meta-analysis. JACS 2020 Sep;231(3): 376-386.
  7. Hamid H, Ahmed Y A, Saber AA, Emile H S, Ibrahim M; Ruiz-Tovar J. Transversus abdominis plane block using a short-acting local anesthetic reduces pain and opioid consumption after laparoscopic bariatric surgery: A Meta-analysis. SOARD 2020 Sept;16(9) 1349-1357.
  8. Brethauer SA, Grieco A, Fraker, T, Evans-Labok K, Smith A, Pharm D, McEvoy MD, Saber AA, Morton JM, Petrick. A. Employing Enhanced Recovery Goals in Bariatric Surgery (ENERGY): A National Quality Improvement Project Utilizing the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2019   Nov;15(11):1977-1989.
  9. Dave DM, Saber AA Internal hernias in pregnant females with Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a systematic review. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2019 Sep;15(9):1633-1640
  10. Saber AA. Gastric Migration afterbariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 2019 Jul; 29 (7): 2307-2308
  11. Khorgami Z, Shoar S, Saber AA, Howard CA, Danaei G, Sclabas GM. Outcomes of Bariatric Surgery Versus Medical Management for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: a Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Obes Surg. 2019 Mar; 29 (3):964-974.
  12. Saber AA, Young C Lee, Chandrasekaran A, Olivia N, Asarian A, Al-Ayoubi S, DiGregorio R. Efficacy of Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) Block in Pain Management after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG): A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Surg. 2019 Jan; 217(1):126-132.
  13. Shoar S, Saber AA, Rubenstein R, Safari S, Brethauer SA, Al-Thani H, Asarian AP, Aminian A. Portomesentric and splenic vein thrombosis (PMSVT) after bariatric surgery: a systematic review of 110 patients. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2018 Jan; 14(1): 47-59
  14. Shoar S, Poliakin L, Rubenstein R, Saber AA "Single Anastomosis Duodeno-ileal Switch (SADIS): A Systematic Review of Efficacy and Safety" Obes Surg. 2017 Aug 19. Obes Surg. 2018 Jan; 28(1): 104-113.
  15. Khorgami Z, Aminian A, Shoar S, Andalib A, Saber AA, Schauer PR, Brethauer SA, Sclabas GM. Cost of bariatric surgery and factors associated with increased cost: an analysis of national inpatient sample. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2017 Aug;13(8):1284-1289.
  16. Saber AA, Meslemani AM, Davis R, Pimentel R. Safety zones for anterior abdominal wall entry during laparoscopy: A CT scan mapping of epigastric vessels. Ann Surg. 2004 Feb; 239(2): 182-5.

Adam Kopelan

  • At Institution Since: 0
  • Program Director Since : 0
  • Board Certification:

Society Memberships

Areas of Expertise

Teaching Qualifications

Summary of Qualifications

Division of Time

Percentage of Time Spent in Clinical Activity: 90%
Percentage of Time Spent in Research Activity:10%

Case Load as Reported By Fellow(s)

1 Fellow(s) performed 74 cases with 88 procedures during the 2025-2026 Fellowship Year.
1 Fellow(s) performed 626 cases with 719 procedures during the 2024-2025 Fellowship Year.

List of Contributing Faculty

Alan A Saber MD, FACS, FASMBS 70%
Area of Expertise
Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery, minimally invasive foregut surgery, minimally invasive acute care surgery, upper GI endoscopy both diagnostic and therapeutic
Role in Training
Program director
   
Adam Kopelan MD, FACS 10%
Area of Expertise
Robotic GI surgery, including foregut, colorectal and abdominal wall hernia.
Role in Training
Associate program director
   
Andrew Hurwich MD, FACS 10%
Area of Expertise
Minimally Invasive Surgery, Robotic Surgery, Foregut, Bariatric, Abdominal Wall Reconstruction
Role in Training
Faculty
   
Jacob Tatum MD, FACS 10%
Area of Expertise
Minimally Invasive Surgery, Robotic Surgery, Foregut Surgery
Role in Training
Faculty
   

Accreditation History

Director Program Length Start End  
Alan A Saber Advanced GI MIS/Bariatrics 3 2023 2026