Core Curriculum
The general surgical rotations are organized to provide each resident an opportunity to learn preoperative and outpatient care. On most services, an average of one day per week is devoted to the outpatient clinics. They also learn operative management, and postoperative care, including intensive care unit management. Each surgical service is organized as a team of one or more attending surgeons, a senior or Chief resident and one or more junior residents. Attending surgeons supervise the care of each patient on each service and talk or round with the residents daily, including weekends and holidays. Under this arrangement, the residents are closely supervised, but allowed increased responsibility and autonomy in the care of patients as they advance to the Chief year. The goal of the Chief Resident is to graduate as an independent, highly-competent, skilled, and confident operating surgeon. On each service, residents are expected to learn patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism.

General Surgery Service I has a first, second or third year resident, and a fifth year resident assigned to the service. Over half of this general surgery service is devoted to surgical oncology: particularly liver, gastrointestinal, spleen, pancreas, breast tumors, and other soft tissue tumors. The techniques of tumor resection, lumpectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, mastectomy, liver resection, and intraoperative ultrasound, gastrectomy, pancreatic resection, and splenectomy are learned on this service. The other half of this service is devoted to every day general surgery procedures.
General Surgery Service II is covered either by a second or third year resident. This service covers the renal transplant service. It also covers pediatric surgery. On this service, in particular, the residents learn the care of immunosuppressed transplant patients, the technique of angio access, vascular anastomoses, and pediatric surgery.

General Surgery Service III is covered by a first year, second or third year, and fourth year resident. Besides providing a wide variety of general surgery, including bariatric and pancreatic surgery, this service also cares for patients undergoing basic and advanced minimally invasive surgery.

General Surgery Service IV is manned by a first year resident, a second or third year resident, and a fifth year resident. This service also includes the resident Ward Service in which the Chief Resident functions as an attending surgeon for his/her own patients. Ward patients are seen in an outpatient clinic, assessed, scheduled for operation and operated upon by the Chief Resident with close cooperation and availability of the attending staff. Service IV also includes private general surgery patients. The service provides a strong experience in endocrine surgery, laparoscopic surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, oncologic surgery, and hernia repair. By necessity, this service requires close coordination with diagnostic and interventional radiology, pathology, and the gastrointestinal service, thus, teaches system-based practice. The service includes a weekly pathology review with the Chief Resident in pathology.