The goal of the Department of Surgery is to achieve excellence in patient care, clinical training, and basic and applied research.

The junior surgery clerkship is the core clerkship in surgery that is required of all students. The curriculum emphasizes basic clinical and surgical skills as applied to a common core of presenting problems. Students are introduced to preoperative, postoperative, traumatic and ambulatory care of patients. By the completion of this educational program, students should demonstrate an understanding of the pathophysiology of surgically treatable diseases and should have acquired sufficient knowledge and diagnostic skills to be able to recognize when a patient’s condition might best be served by a surgical consultation. Students will also develop the fundamental skills for safe and efficient management of patients in the hospital and ambulatory setting, clinical skills, and operative skills during the eight-week clerkship.

At least one month of the clerkship will be spent working with full-time faculty on a surgical service at Memorial Hermann Hospital or at the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) General Hospital. The remaining month of the clerkship will be spent working on a general or surgical specialty service at Memorial Hermann or participating hospitals/services.

Clinical patient care is a significant part of students’ surgical experience. The students are expected to make rounds in the morning and evening with their residents and/or faculty member, be available for on-call assignments, attend resident conferences, and assist in the work-up of patients who are admitted to their service. They are expected to write daily progress notes on the patients to whom they are assigned. Additional time may be spent in resident and/or faculty clinics. By and large, this will be an in-hospital experience.

The senior surgery clerkship is a four-week elective experience. Fourth-year students select this experience from a list of approved electives.

Postgraduate training begins with the categorical first-year program in surgery, specifically designed to provide graduates the opportunity to combine medical school knowledge with practical skills and to lay a firm foundation for the pursuit of any surgery or medicine specialty. Beyond that, full residencies in general surgery and surgery specialties are offered.

  UTHSC-H General .pdf