Didactics

The extensive educational curriculum of our general surgery residency program serves as the foundation of the rigorous and comprehensive surgical training experience you will receive at UNMC.

Wednesday morning is dedicated to educational conferences and all residents have protected time to attend. These conferences consist of departmental Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) conference and Grand Rounds, followed by resident seminars and specialty conferences. The resident seminars focus on core basic science and clinical knowledge of general surgery and surgical subspecialties. 

In addition to a dedicated half-day of educational conferences each week, our residents have protected time to participate in a comprehensive surgical skills and simulation training program one to two times per month, and participate in regular rotation specific conferences and journal clubs. Residents also have access to a longitudinal ABS certifying exam preparatory course and faculty mentorship programs to optimize and refine their educational approach.

An active mentoring program is utilized to assist residents with performance on the annual required ABSITE exam. Electronic educational resources such as Fundamentals of Surgery and SCORE curriculum serve to organize and support the annual curriculum. In preparation for the ABSITE exam, all residents are provided a subscription to TrueLearn, which provides high-quality, exam-style practice questions that are frequently updated and provide detailed explanations to reinforce learning.

The educational curriculum is annually reevaluated. We constantly strive to improve the quality and enhance the delivery of our educational curriculum. Program leadership, in conjunction with our resident-led Education Committee, discuss how we can improve our curriculum to ensure it is optimized and appropriately reflects the evolving landscape of general surgery training on an annual basis.

Resident and Faculty Seminars

Residents have a weekly didactic lecture that is based on the national surgical curriculum, SCORE. Select faculty review the specific modules and the content on the topic of the week, then facilitate an interactive session. The format is varied but includes case-based discussions, small groups, occasional trivia, or whatever the faculty deems is the best way to have a collaborative dialogue with our residents.  The second hour is the Art of Medicine lecture series, a combination of non-clinical based topics. Prior topics covered include: ethics, resident education, leadership, and personal financial planning.

Departmental M&M

Morbidity and Mortality conferences occur every week and are organized by clinical service line. This conference is the cornerstone of surgical education and allows students, residents, and faculty to discuss cases, share knowledge and lessons learned, and ultimately improve the surgical care provided to all patients at UNMC. On a quarterly basis, we also take a moment to discuss, learn from, and celebrate our excellent outcomes in our “Good Saves and Little Victories” conference.  

Quality, Safety and Cost Conference

A comprehensive understanding of diverse and evolving quality measures and safety metrics is essential to modern surgical practice. As such, surgical quality and patient safety have been increasingly emphasized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the American Board of Surgery (ABS) as essential components of surgical training. In this course, residents learn the principles and practice of surgical quality and patient safety and implementation science. Each resident will then present and discuss a quality improvement project they have completed during their time in residency to enhance the surgical care provided at UNMC.

Mini-Mock Orals

In this monthly course, residents prepare for the ABS certifying examination by participating in a mock oral exam session on rotating topics with faculty experts in a group setting. This allows individual residents additional oral exam practice opportunities, while allowing other residents the chance to learn (both successes and opportunities for improvement) from colleagues’ diverse approaches to the exam, in a fun and supportive environment. Every year, this course is consistently rated one of the best courses of the curriculum.

Multi-departmental Conferences

On a quarterly basis, M&M is held in coordination with another department in the College of Medicine (e.g. internal medicine, anesthesia, radiology or emergency medicine). Our annual combined educational day with the Emergency Medicine department includes discussion of educational cases that are presented jointly with colleagues from other departments. This facilitates the sharing of knowledge between specialties and enhances interdisciplinary collaboration. Also included is a Grand Rounds combined speaker and a simulation day where residents work and learn beside Emergency Medicine colleagues.

Grand Rounds

The general surgery residency program participates in the Department of Surgery’s weekly Grand Rounds. The surgical grand rounds curriculum is robust, covering a wide variety of topics. Typically, it is a one-hour presentation given by distinguished faculty, either from within the department or institution, or visiting faculty from prestigious institutions around the world. We have also instituted the Cultural Competency lecture series based on Michigan’s.

For additional information and to view current schedules, please visit the Grand Rounds page.