The Department of Surgery will prepare all student-learners to recognize and manage minor surgical problems, evaluate surgical emergency situations, and understand the presentation and evaluation of common surgical problems. The educational experience is designed to allow the learner to master the basic clinical skills found in surgery.

The clinical education program is carried out in seven hospitals / surgical services affiliated with the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. During the clerkship in the surgical sciences, the student-learner will acquire the basic surgical skills required of any physician. They will participate in the student-credentialing program and attend a series of conferences that are designed to emphasize the interplay of anatomic, physiologic, and pathologic factors responsible for surgical disease. On the clinical services, the learner follows individual cases and works with the resident and attending staff. The learner is assigned responsibility commensurate with their knowledge and experience.

The didactic experience in surgery is 12 weeks in length and the primary responsibility of students during the entire 12-week module is surgery. The clinical experiences in general surgery are offered for eight weeks total: four weeks at one of two inpatient sites (BGMC and ECMC) and four weeks preceptor rotation from the following: BGMC, ECMC, MFSH, MHB, RPCI, SCH, VAWNYHS, and OCHB. These are intense inpatient experiences with intraoperative experience, ward assignments, ambulatory experience, required night call, student credentialing, and conference attendance. Each site may also have an ambulatory component in which the student learner will participate in the evaluation of patients in the clinic/office setting. The remaining four weeks may be used for Surgery 800 or for another approved elective. Surgery 700 will take priority over any electives. All students will be required to participate in all mandatory surgical activities for the entire 12-week clerkship. These include orientation, skills lab, didactics, case conferences, grand rounds, the surgical conferences at the hospital to which they are assigned, testing sessions and the exit interview. In addition, student-learners are expected to read and master the assigned textbook.

The department assigns a grade according to the academic status policies of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Grades are based on completion of the basic, mandatory components including attendance and presentation at the Student Case Conferences, completion of all credentialing documents, completion of required procedures, attendance at all required conferences, clinical evaluations, and testing.

Prerequisite: MS3 (this is a required MS3 Clerkship)

Blocks: 1-4

Clerkship Director: Molly E. Moore, MD

Clerkship Coordinator: Gayle Thomson