Curriculum for the General Surgery Residency Program

Yanjie Qi, MD
Program Director, General Surgery Residency

Residents are excused from clinical responsibilities on Thursday mornings for didactic sessions which include lectures to cover areas of basic and clinical science of general surgery, and is presented by residents with faculty moderators.  In addition to didactic conference, there are weekly Grand Rounds, monthly Morbidity & Mortality conference, mock oral examinations, and Journal Club which reviews seminal publications in the surgical literature. 

The surgical skills lab teaches residents suturing to knot tying and other basic skills at the beginning of the first year, and extends in complexity of skills taught to residents in all years of the training program.  As residents gain more experience, sessions involve more complex case-based skills.  Mid-level models include the laparoscopic box trainer, FLS, and FES trainers and extend to laparoscopic towers as well as the robotic curriculum offered during the fourth and fifth years after which residents receive a certificate of completion in robotic training.

Clinical Rotations

Surgical residents gain expertise in the preoperative, operative, and postoperative care of patients with general surgical diseases under the guidance of expert faculty.

Surgical internship consist of 4 week rotations geared towards acquiring broad basic skills in the general surgical specialties including colorectal, trauma, thoracic, plastic, vascular, and intensive care.  Following internship, residents are integrated at the PGY-2 level into progressively independent leadership responsibilities, commensurate with increasing levels of clinical experience.  This includes 4-8 week rotations in colorectal, trauma, breast, pediatric surgery, transplant, thoracic, and intensive care.

The PGY-3 year offers 7.5 week rotations including trauma, hepatobiliary surgery, vascular as well as rotations at community hospitals including Highland Hospital and Unity Hospital.  They PGY-4 year allow residents to focus on major areas of surgery including laparoscopic surgery, surgical oncology, and trauma/critical care.

PGY-5 year is devoted to operating independently and maturation of clinical decision making, as well as developing leadership skills by leading teams of surgical residents.  The Chief resident is responsible for running her/his own services at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Rotation Schedule

The General Surgery Residency Program employs a rotation schedule designed to give its trainees broad, intensive and useful exposure to all required surgical disciplines. Below is an example of a typical rotation schedule.