General Surgery Residency

General Surgery Residency On-Line Handbook

Education

Responsibilities for Teaching Students

Teaching is a responsibility of all House Staff and Faculty Members. Students should be made to feel a part of the "team". Resident recruitment begins with this early exposure of the students to the House Staff and Faculty. The Senior Resident on each service is designated as the Teaching Resident for the clerkship students and lower level residents. He/she will also check the progress notes written by the students and assure that all notes are correct and signed by a licensed M.D.

General Surgery Resident Book Allowances

Each General Surgery Resident is entitled to a book allowance each year. Preliminary Residents and Interns are not included. Listed below are the limits according to the postgraduate year. Book allowances are to be used each year and are not carried over from year to year:

• PGY-1 - Books issued
  PGY-2 - $200.00
  PGY-3 - $300.00
  PGY-4 - $350.00
  PGY-5 - $500.00

Research

All surgery residents are encouraged to spend 12-24 months of their training in research. This should be done following the second postgraduate year. When a resident selects a research project, he/she should have an agreement from a member of the faculty with whom he/she wishes to work. Contact with individual faculty members should begin during internship. A formal, written request should be submitted to the program director. This request should include the project, as well as the Faculty Member involved. Every effort will be made to facilitate the request. Residents on the research rotation do not take call, and resume their clinical responsibilities at the end of their research term at the PGY-3 level.

Training Opportunities

Minimally Invasive Surgery Laboratory

All surgery residents will undergo laparoscopic training program. Residents will acquire surgical skills, such as hand-eye coordination, ambidexterity, depth perception and operation of laparoscopic instruments, that are necessary to perform videoendoscopic procedures.

Performance of standardized laparoscopic drills first in an inanimate setting (i.e., dry laboratory trainer) and then practiced in an animate or wet model (i.e., anesthetized pig or fresh organs).

Drills will be evaluated both before (i.e., pre-test) and after (i.e., post-test) 8 hours of dry laboratory training (this is equivalent to two 4-hours practice sessions) and outcomes measured by the speed and accuracy of completing drills, such as bean transfer, two-handed pegboard, rope pass, pattern cutting, hypodermic needle capping, and suturing and knot tying.

Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)

All surgical residents are required to receive and maintain current ACLS and BLS certification. Courses are scheduled through the Education Lab (X22823). Certification must be updated every two years.

Residents will also receive ATLS certification, administered by the Department of Surgery, prior to start of surgical residency. This certification will be renewed every 4 years. Senior surgical residents will also be given the opportunity to become an ATLS course instructor.

USMLE

Each General Surgery Resident will complete two step exams by April of their first year of employment. This Departmental Policy is in compliance with the institutional policy approved by the ADGME and the GME Committee.Department, prior to start of their residency and renew certification every 2 years.

Integrated and Designated Preliminary House Officers will be required to complete all three step exams within the policy established by their core program. They must take their exam during one of their core program elective months if their core program timeline requires completion during their General Surgery assignment.

Categorical General Surgery House Officers must coordinate their exam schedules with the General Surgery Program Coordinator. Available times will be determined by evaluating the number of House residents on service, vacations scheduled during requested month, patient census, etc.