General Surgery Residency Program

General Surgery Education Program Directors

 

Colleen Donahue, M.D.

General Surgery Program Director

 

William Lancaster, M.D.

General Surgery Associate Program Director

Program Overview

The general surgery residency is a five-year program encompassing all aspects of general surgery as well as surgical sub-specialties, with an optional 1-2 years of research available. By the time of graduation our residents are well prepared for both competitive fellowships or entering general surgery practice.  During their five clinical years, residents rotate through the surgical subspecialties, trauma, burn, general surgery and community general surgery rotations. Eight categorical residency positions are offered each year, two dedicated research track positions and six clinical (research optional) positions.  we also offer 14 preliminary internship positions annually.

Rotation sites:

Our residents primarily rotate at the Downtown Charleston Campus which includes the Main Hospital (Trauma, Surgical ICU, Burn, Emergency General Surgery), Ashley River Tower (GI Specialty Surgery – Advanced Laparoscopy, Colorectal, Surgical Oncology, Hepatobiliary, Thoracic, Vascular, Endocrine), Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital (SJCH) and the VA Hospital. Residents also rotate at our community general surgery sites including McLeod Regional Medical Center, Tidelands Medical Center and Roper Hospital as senior residents.

Both our adult and pediatric hospitals are level one trauma centers. We also have the only NCI Designated Cancer Center in South Carolina, providing surgical oncologic care to residents across the state

Rotations by year:

PGY1: Assignments during this year consist of one-month blocks, providing exposure to general and specialty surgical services at our Charleston campus hospitals (Main, ART, SJCH, VA). Residents will rotate through general surgery and the surgical sub-specialties. Residents may also have the option of rotating on electives such anesthesia, orthopedic surgery, urology and plastic surgery. Emphasis is directed to the fundamentals of both preoperative and postoperative surgical care and to learning fundamental technical skills.

PGY2: Assignments in this year consists of one month rotations focusing on pediatric surgery, trauma/acute care surgery, surgical critical care including cardiothoracic critical care, vascular surgery, surgical oncology, and transplant surgery.

PGY3: Assignments are one month blocks which include transplant surgery,  thoracic surgery and gastrointestinal specialty surgery (colorectal surgery, minimally invasive surgery (bariatric and complex abdominal wall), surgical oncology) as well as the general surgery service at the VA Hospital and a community rotation at an offsite hospital. Third year residents have the option of an elective surgical month of their choosing or a two-month rotation at our AGME approved international rotation in South Africa.

PGY4: During this year, residents serve as senior general surgical residents on pediatric surgery, colorectal surgery, vascular surgery, breast/endocrine surgery and acute care general surgery (ACS). They also spend two months at Tidelands Hospital where they practice community general surgery with highly respected general surgeons, which is an excellent opportunity for increased autonomy especially those considering general surgery practice after graduation.

PGY5: During this year residents serve as general surgical chief residents on the gastrointestinal surgery services, surgical oncology, and the VA general surgery services. The chief resident is expected to assume maximum responsibility for all aspects of surgical care on each service.

On-Call Schedule Night call for most services is covered by the night emergency/trauma (NET) service or the night ART (NART) service. This schedule may vary according to the assigned rotation. Work schedules are established so that residents work less than 80 hours per week with one day in seven "off", ten hours off between duty shifts, and a maximum of 24 hours on call.

Research Year Residents have the opportunity to take a one-to-two-year period away from clinical rotations to participate in full-time  basic science or clinical research in one of several areas of surgery including oncology, transplant immunology, and cardiovascular surgery. Research residents will be expected to take one call shift per month.

Educational Activities

Didactic conferences are scheduled regularly throughout the program.  On a weekly basis, the surgical service conference reviews all morbidity and mortality cases. Additionally, a weekly basic science and clinical seminar series reviews a core curriculum of topics relevant to surgical careSurgical grand rounds are held once a month and include presentations from all aspects of general surgery such as vascular, endocrine, trauma and gastrointestinal surgery, as well as the surgical subspecialties.  Level-specific (junior and senior) journal clubs are held bi-monthly at various restaurants in and around downtown Charleston.

There is dedicated weekly resident protected time for simulation which covers a yearlong curriculum to have residents trained in FES, FLS, FUSE and ATLAS. This includes tissue labs, trauma scenarios, team building as well as our Future Surgical Leaders leadership seminar series.

In each hospital, surgical clinics are held weekly for the follow-up of patient care. Attendance at clinics is required for all surgical residents.

All general surgery categorical residents and selected preliminary interns take the annual in-service examination of the American Board of Surgery (ABS). Upper-level residents also are given mock oral examinations, which closely approximate the conditions and content of the ABS certifying examination.