General Surgery Residency

PGY-1

During their first year, residents will experience a broad range of surgical training, including rotations on multiple general surgery services and rotations on the following specific services:

 

• Thoracic surgery
• Vascular surgery
• Minimally invasive surgery
• Pediatric surgery
• Trauma surgery
• Surgical oncology
• Surgical intensive care unit  

Our goal is to provide the first year resident with exposure to a large volume of surgical patients with varying disease processes.

PGY-2

The second year of residency focuses on several elements of acute care surgery with rotations on services specific to acute care:

 

• Multiple general surgery
• Surgical intensive care unit
• Trauma surgery
• Colorectal surgery
• Plastic and reconstructive surgery
• Surgical intensive care unit 

PGY-3

Third year residents will spend some time in elective areas, but will rotate on selected services that provide increased case complexity, patient care responsibility and operative experience:

 

• Multiple general surgery
• Acute care surgery
• Pediatric surgery
• Surgical oncology
• Vascular surgery
• Transplant surgery

PGY-4

During the fourth year of residency, rotations will be spent on services where residents are expected to assume leadership roles with increasing decision-making responsibility. Residents will also have the opportunity to complete an elective month in the surgical sub-specialty of their choice. 

 

• General surgery
• Acute care surgery
• Colorectal surgery
• Trauma surgery
• Minimally invasive surgery
• Thoracic surgery

PGY-5

Residents will manage one of the general surgery services at Houston Methodist Hospital during their final year of residency. During this year, they will gain intensive operative experience and, on completion, will be capable of dealing with both routine and complex cases, and all aspects of pre-operative, intra-operative, and post-operative care.

After completing the final year of residency, our graduates will have performed approximately 1,000 major operations and will be eligible to sit for The American Board of Surgery Qualifying Examination.

Houston Methodist Hospital

Houston Methodist Hospital serves as the primary teaching hospital of the residency program. While rotating at Houston Methodist, residents will have a broad exposure to many complex surgical disease processes. They will receive extensive operative experience in foregut surgery, hepatobiliary surgery, colorectal surgery, advanced laparoendoscopic surgery, endocrine surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery. Residents will also gain unparalleled experience in critical care at the Dunn Surgical Intensive Care Unit, a 31-bed unit staffed by five fellowship trained surgical intensivists.

Memorial Hermann Hospital

Memorial Hermann Hospital, located in the Texas Medical Center, is a 755-bed tertiary care teaching hospital has one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in the country and is the site of the regional adult burn unit. It is also home to the Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, an integrated facility within Memorial Hermann Hospital that is a large referral site for children with routine and complex surgical disorders.

Our general surgery residents will spend approximately nine months of their residency at Memorial Hermann Hospital in each three rotation area:

 

• Rotation on the trauma service at both the junior and senior resident levels
• Rotation on the pediatric surgery service during the intern and third year
• Rotation on the burn service during the second year

 

MD Anderson Cancer Center

Located in the Texas Medical Center, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center provides our residents with world-class training in the multi-disciplinary management of patients with common and rare complex malignancies including breast, melanoma and sarcoma. As a site of training for many surgical residents and fellows from around the world, the volume of clinical activity provides residents with an extensive exposure to surgical oncology. Residents will spend approximately three months of their training at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Educational Conferences

The educational conferences provide residents with a Socratic approach to surgical education. Conferences are presented by residents, faculty and visiting professors.

Surgical Intern Survival Skills

The transition from medical student to surgical intern often causes tremendous anxiety. The Surgical Intern Survival Skills curriculum is designed to alleviate much of this anxiety through a series of lectures and interactive sessions. Topics include an introduction to pharmacology, common surgical complications, and emotional intelligence and resilience.

Mock Orals

Residents at the PGY-3 through PGY-5 levels participate in mock oral examinations given by the Houston Methodist Department of Surgery faculty. These mock examinations prepare upper-level residents for the American Board of Surgery certifying examination.

Education Curriculum

The Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) curriculum encompasses a listing of patient care topics covered during the five-year residency in general surgery. The conference is held in a small team format and each team includes attending surgeons and PGY-1 through PGY-5 residents.

Morbidity and Mortality Conference

Morbidity and Mortality Conference is a key teaching conference during which complications are presented by residents and discussed by faculty and residents. The complications presented are discussed with an emphasis on the current literature and are designed to promote an educational discussion.

Journal Club

Journal Club is held once a month, typically at a faculty member’s home, and centers on the presentation of new clinical and scientific information. Each month, junior and senior residents are responsible for presenting the articles. Faculty are present to aid in the discussion of the articles.

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds are designed to keep surgeons and other healthcare professionals abreast of new surgical knowledge, surgical procedures and patient care issues. This weekly conference is presented by senior residents, surgical faculty, non-surgical faculty and visiting professors.

MITIE Skills Laboratory

The Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation & Education (MITIE) houses a comprehensive training facility for teaching both open and laparoscopic surgical skills, flexible endoscopy, and critical care procedures such as airway management, central line placement and invasive cardiac monitoring. As part of the conference schedule, resident levels alternate through the laboratory.

The Inanimate Skills Laboratory is centrally located on the fourth floor of Houston Methodist Hospital, in the Fondren wing. Residents and fellows are given 24-hour access so that each can work at their own pace and on their own schedule.

Discipline Specific Conferences

Houston Methodist also offers numerous discipline-specific conferences, such as thoracic, gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary.