Curriculum

The five-year program in general surgery is designed to satisfy the requirements of the American Board of Surgery, including three full years devoted to the primary components of general surgery. At the completion of this program, the trainee will qualify for the examination of the American Board of Surgery and will be capable of performing as an independent surgical practitioner.

The training curriculum for general surgery is a rigorous course of study that has been meticulously developed in accordance with the guidelines of the Residency Review Commission.

Five Surgical Services

The General Surgery Residency Program at Lankenau is comprised of five general surgery services:

Deaver

• Vascular
• Endovascular
• Transplant
• Minimally invasive surgery

Engel

• Breast Surgery
• General Surgery
• Colorectal Surgery
• Minimally invasive surgery

Smink

• Surgical oncology
• Thoracic surgery/esophageal surgery

ACS/ICU/Trauma

• ACS/Trauma
• ICU
• Plastic Surgery/Microsurgery

Marks’s Colorectal

• Colon surgery
• Rectal surgery/TEM
• Minimally invasive surgery

Training design by year

PGY-1

The first twelve months of residency are spent in general surgery at our home base of Lankenau. The emphasis of the first postdoctoral year is perioperative patient management. A night float rotation shared by all PGY1s fosters maximum continuity of daytime care by residents.

PGY-2

The second postdoctoral year focuses on developing skills in the critical care of the surgical patient. Two months in General Surgery/Bariatric Surgery at Bryn Mawr Hospital a Hospital part of the Mainline Health, 1 month in Trauma at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. During the time spent in general surgery at Lankenau, the resident’s operative experience is advanced, and he/she serves as “midlevel” consult-resident as well as ICU experience.

PGY-3

Nine months in General Surgery at Lankenau, where the resident’s operative experience is Advanced on the Surgical Oncology, Colorectal and Vascular services. Two months in Pediatric Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania, Two months General Surgery/Bariatric Surgery at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

PGY-4

Nine months are spent in General Surgery at Lankenau as a Senior or Chief Resident on one of the five general surgery services. An additional one month are spent as Senior Resident on the trauma service at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Two months are protected for elective rotations, as residents explore areas of focused surgical interest and opportunities for advanced fellowship.

PGY-5 Chief Year

The fifth postdoctoral year is spent as chief resident with leadership experience on each of the Five General Surgery Services at Lankenau. This significant surgical responsibility prepares the resident to be a competent technical surgeon, team leader, surgical role model, and teacher of students and residents.

Conference schedule

Rotations

Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania - CHOP

Diagnosis and treatment of pediatric surgical conditions

• Prenatal consultations (for fetal abnormalities that may have been detected during pregnancy and may require neonatal surgery – operations on newborns)
• Pediatric trauma evaluations in the Emergency Department (ER) including child abuse consultations
• 24-hour surgical services through the ER and Level I Trauma Center

Penn Medicine Division of Traumatology and Surgical Critical Care

The Trauma Center at Penn is accredited by the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation as a Level 1, Regional Resource Trauma Center and is nationally and internationally recognized as a model program for other hospitals. In addition, there is a 24-bed dedicated Surgical Intensive Care Unit where trauma and surgical patients are cared for by board-certified intensivists. This unit provides 24/7, 365-day in-house coverage by a team of physicians and advanced practice nurses utilizing state-of-the-art technology, including VISICU, the computerized “virtual ICU.”

Bryn Mawr Hospital - Mainline Health

This is one of our other hospitals located about 4 miles down the road from Lankenau. The resident’s rotate here for their Bariatric Surgery experience. While rotating here they will also work closely with the Jefferson Surgical Residents.