Conferences

Conference	Frequency / Length	Person(s) Responsible for Conference
Department of Surgery Grand Rounds	2nd Tuesday of each month / 1 hour	Vice-Chair of Education / Division Chiefs
Morbidity & Mortality Conf	Weekly / 1 hour	Drs. Christian Streck, Rana Pullatt, and Mark Lockett
Basic Science	Weekly / 1 hour	Aaron P. Lesher, MD
Junior Journal Club(PGY1-2 Residents)	5 per year / 2 hours	Charleston Journal Club
Senior Journal Club(PGY3-5 Residents)	5 per year / 2 hours	Charleston Journal Club

Grand Rounds: Department of Surgery Grand Rounds are scheduled the second Tuesday of every month (July-June) at 7am (lecture location determined on a quarterly basis).  These grand rounds are mandatory for all surgical faculty, house officers and students on service. Attendance records are maintained in the Department.

Morbidity and Mortality Conference: Morbidity and Mortality Conference is held every Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. (lecture location determined on a quarterly basis).  Attendance is mandatory for all surgical house staff, students and attendings. Attendance records are maintained in the Department. The service reports are reviewed from the previous week and all complications and deaths are presented and discussed in detail by the resident responsible for that service or performing the procedure. The responsible resident is expected to have all pertinent x-rays, operative photographs, and/or pathology specimens available for this conference and to be prepared to discuss their cases in depth having prepared themselves by a thorough review of the pertinent literature.

Basic Science: The Basic Science Course is intended to provide an introduction to general surgery, with all essential topics covered at least every third year, and the most critical topics presented annually. The conferences are held weekly from July through May on Tuesday mornings from 8:00-9:00am in for all PGY levels. Residents are excused from clinical duties on all services, including the operating room, during this time except for the emergency care of patients. Designated preliminary (ortho, urology, ENT, ophtho, neurosurgery) are not required to attend. The schedule of conference topics and presenters are distributed annually and available on the website. Residents are expected to prepare in advance for the weekly conference by reading the appropriate assignment as noted on the conference schedule.

Journal Club: Surgical Journal Club is held from August through May, alternating months between the PGY1/2 Junior Journal Club and the PGY3-5 Senior Journal Club.  These are tentatively planned to be held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6pm when possible.  The Development Office coordinates with the local Charleston Journal Club to select outside medical sponsors.  The research resident(s) will select the articles to be discussed.

Simulation: Following Basic Science on Tuesdays, junior residents and senior residents alternate every other week with scheduled protected time for simulation for 1-2 hours to work on laparoscopic, endoscopic, robotic and simulated scenario skills. These sessions are led by faculty and senior residents.