Medical Students – Clerkship Curriculum

Rotations

Core General Surgery Rotations

  • Acute Care Surgery
  • General Surgery
  • Surgical Oncology

Secondary Core Rotations

  • Trauma Surgery
  • Vascular Surgery

Elective Options

  • Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Transplant Surgery
  • Trauma Sub Specialty: Extremity, Soft Tissue, & Burns

Lectures

  • Abdominal Wall, Hernia
  • Biliary Tract
  • Breast
  • Colon, Rectum and Anus
  • Esophagus
  • Fluids and Electrolytes
  • H&P; perioperative evaluation and surgical nutrition
  • Improving Patient Safety
  • Liver
  • Lung Disease
  • Pancreas
  • Shock: Metabolic Failure in Critical Illness
  • Small Intestine and Appendix (including acute abdomen)
  • Stomach and Duodenum
  • Surgical Bleeding, Bleeding Disorders, Replacement Therapy
  • Surgical Endocrinology
  • Surgical Infection
  • Surgical Oncology General
  • Trauma
  • Vascular Series (video lectures)
  • Wounds and Wound Healing, Burns

H&P and Root Cause Analysis Assignments

Obtaining a complete history and physical exam is integral to the diagnosis and treatment of all patients. The surgical patient is no exception. The student is required to perform 2 complete histories and physicals during the rotation, both of which will require a full set of admitting orders. Patients for histories and physicals may be obtained in any appropriate clinical setting include the Emergency Department, clinic, or hospital. The required components include a complete history, a careful physical exam, diagnostic data, a detailed impression with a supported differential diagnosis and development of a therapeutic plan.

One root cause analysis will be required. A root cause analysis can be used to uncover the factors that lead to patient safety events and move organizations to deliver safer care. The components should include a thorough and organized timeline of events, identification and description of failures, recommendations to avoid repeating the event, and appropriate sources of evidence-based literature.

OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination)

Students will have the opportunity to perform a practice OSCE and written note on one patient halfway through the course.

For the final OSCE, students will perform 3 examinations on different patients and will write notes on each patient.

Skills

Students will attend a Skills and Sim Lab where they will learn how to insert NG tubes, chest tubes, Foley catheters, and central lines.

Students will attend a Suture Lab where they will learn the basics of knot tying, suturing, and types of sutures.

Required Clinical Experiences

  • Abdominal pain/acute
  • Breast mass/evaluation
  • Trauma
  • Abscess incision/drain
  • Digital rectal examination with hemoccult
  • Suture/Laceration repair
  • Nasogastric/oralgastric intubation
  • Removal of skin staples/sutures
  • Urethral catherization
  • Minimally invasive surgery
  • ABI/Vascular assessment