Third-Year Clerkships - Surgery
Clerkship Director: Alfred Kennedy, MD
Student Affairs: Missy Maples (865) 305-9618, Email: mmaples@mc.utmck.edu
Surgery Department Contact: Christine Brown (865) 305-9294
Website: http://gsm.utmck.edu/surgery/main.htm
The Surgery Department’s 8-week Clerkship can accommodate a maximum of 8 students per rotation. Wide-ranging exposure in General Surgery, Trauma, Critical Care, Pediatric Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Transplant Surgery, and Surgical Oncology is available. Each student will be assigned to a 4-week rotation on the General/Trauma Surgery service and three 1-week rotations on the Pediatric, Vascular, Oncology or Surgical Critical Care services. Student interests in certain specialty areas are accommodated whenever possible. The surgical subspecialties of Orthopedics, ENT, Ophthalmology, and Urology are offered in Knoxville for the fourth year required Surgical Subspecialty rotation.
A 2-day orientation starts the rotation, which includes a suture course and aseptic technique and basic skills review. Although a great deal of time will be spent in the operating room, students will also be expected to attend outpatient clinics and work with different attendings seeing pre- and post-operative patients. Each surgery service has a designated student “Mentor”. Students will meet with their current service mentor weekly to review the History and Physical note of a patient that the student has seen during that week. Additionally, each student will meed with the Clerkship Director weekly to assess progress. Throughout the rotation, emphasis is placed upon developing skills needed by primary care physicians in surgical diagnoses and appropriate referral.
Required lectures are scheduled throughout the week and scheduled surgical conferences (M & M, Grand Rounds, Resident Conference and Professorial Rounds) are on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Students are required to attend the regular surgery conferences. All general course objectives directly reflect those of UTHSC for the Surgical Core Clerkship - http://surgclerkutmem.pageout.net, however specific lecture objectives may vary slightly – all with the same goal of preparing the student for both the NBME Surgery Shelf Exam and the on site Oral Exams.
Students will take call every fourth night with the call ending at 11:00 p.m. Meal tickets will be provided to students on their call nights. Each student will also work one weekend within the 8-week period. This leaves all remaining weekends for study, rest, and recreation time.
Each student will receive a mid-term evaluation from the Clerkship Director or a Faculty member where student strengths/weaknesses will be discussed. Student needs for the remainder of the rotation will also be addressed at this time. Final evaluations will be completed on the standardized UTHSC form by both Attendings and Residents who have worked directly with the student.
A full-service, user friendly medical center library is available to students at all times, as well as newly renovated call rooms and the Surgery Resident Resource Room with texts, computer based learning opportunities, and laparoscopic simulators. Students interested in a rotation in Knoxville can contact Missy Maples at 865-305-9618 for information on short term housing solutions.
Since the number of students on the surgery rotation is small, students have the opportunity to receive individualized attention from the staff. Faculty members are passionate about the field of surgery, well known throughout the country for their expertise, and dedicated to teaching.
Opportunities to continue to receive the benefit of the faculty teaching skills are available through the surgical residency program, which is lead by Mitchell H. Goldman, MD, Professor and Chairman. Surgical Education at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville is designed to meet or exceed the special requirements for residency training in general surgery and produce surgeons with sound clinical and technical skills. Our residency is a five-year program that is fully accredited by the ACGME. We offer four categorical positions per year and preliminary positions at the PGY1 and PGY2 level. The program graduates have been highly successful in securing post-graduate fellowships, clinical practice positions, and pursuing careers in academic surgery.
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