School of Medicine

General surgery residents complete one- to two month block rotations in the following areas:

• General surgery
• Intensive care
• Anesthesiology
• Outpatient clinic
• Pediatric surgery
• Surgical oncology
• Thoracic surgery
• Transplant surgery
• Trauma surgery
• Vascular surgery
• Upper GI surgery
• Colorectal surgery
• Endocrine/breast
• Endoscopy
• Basic gynecology
• Urology

PGY 1
These rotations are designed to provide the resident broad-based exposure to the fundamentals of pre- and post-operative surgical care and a solid basis in surgical technical skills, such as the handling of tissue, closure of simple and complex wounds, exposure, and performance of basic general surgical procedures. Rotations consist of one month experience in general and vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, trauma surgery, and pediatric surgery, anesthesiology, colorectal surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, endocrine/breast surgery, outpatient clinic, intensive care unit.

PGY 2
These rotations are designed to provide the resident the knowledge, experience, and judgment necessary to evaluate and care for critically ill patients as well as patients with common surgical diseases such as abdominal wall hernias, colon cancer, and acute inflammatory conditions of the abdomen. The rotations consist of one to two month experiences in the surgical oncology, general surgery, thoracic surgery, trauma surgery, colorectal surgery, endocrine/breast surgery, intensive care unit, endoscopy and transplant surgery.

PGY 3
During PGY-3 training emphasizes surgical technique and skill refinement with rotations that include transplant surgery, vascular surgery, thoracic surgery, colon and rectal surgery, general surgery and gastrointestinal surgery. Assignments are four to six weeks long. The 3rd year surgical residents are responsible for providing elective and emergency surgical consults on the general surgery services.

PGY 4
During PGY-4 training emphasizes surgical technique and skill refinement with rotations that include surgical oncology, colon and rectal surgery, upper GI, trauma and endocrine surgery. Assignments are six to ten weeks long. The 4d year surgical residents begin to assume a leadership role in caring for surgical patients. These residents are responsible for providing elective and emergency surgical consults on the general surgery services. Under the direction of attending surgeons, these residents will perform a wide-spectrum of basic and laparoscopic general surgical procedures including breast biopsy, appendectomy, cholecystectomy, exploratory laparotomy, and colostomy.

PGY 5
This senior year is established with the primary goal of maximizing the number and variety of clinical experiences, sharpening diagnostic and therapeutic skills, of becoming an independent consultant and maturing into an independent, competent and confident general surgeon.  Clinical rotations provide the chief resident with experience managing patients with both basic and complex general surgical problems. Under the guidance of an attending surgeon, the chief resident in surgery is responsible for managing the continuum of preoperative, operative and postoperative care of his or her patients on the general surgery, surgical oncology, colorectal and upper GI services.

Educational Activities

Throughout the program, there are regularly scheduled conferences. On a weekly basis, the surgical service conference reviews all morbidity and mortality cases. A weekly basic science and clinical seminar series reviews a core curriculum in fundamental problems relevant to surgical care. Presentations are given by members of the surgical staff, faculty from other clinical and basic science departments. Surgical grand rounds are held once a month and include presentations from all aspects of general surgery such as vascular, endocrine, trauma and gastrointestinal surgery, as well as the surgical subspecialties.

Completion requirements for general surgery certification.

Program and Time Requirements

• A minimum of 5 years of progressive residency education satisfactorily completed in a
  general surgery program
• At least 48 weeks of full-time clinical activity in each residency year, regardless of the
  amount of operative experience obtained.
• At least 54 months of clinical surgical experience with increasing levels of responsibility
  over the 5 years, with no fewer than 42 months devoted to the content areas of general
  surgery.

Chief Resident Year

• Acting in the capacity of chief resident in general surgery for a minimum of 24 weeks over
  the PGY-5 year, per the definition below.
• The term chief resident indicates that a resident has assumed ultimate clinical
  responsibility for patient care under the supervision of the teaching staff and is the most
  senior resident involved with the direct care of the patient.
• The entire chief resident experience in either the content areas of general surgery, with no
  more than 4 months devoted to any one area. All rotations at the PGY-5 level should involve
  substantive major operative experience and independent decision making.

Specific Requirements

• Completion of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery curriculum,
• Completion of the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support curriculum,
• Completion of the Advanced Trauma Life Support curriculum,
• Completion of the  Flexible Endoscopy Curriculum,
• At least 6 operative and 6 clinical performance assessments conducted by the program
  director or other faculty members while in residency.

Clinical rotation sites