Program SynopsisLaparoscopic/Endoscopic Skills Labs
Teaching FacilitiesResearchContact

 Program Synopsis

The Emory General Surgery Residency Program is a five-year, non-pyramidal training program accredited by the ACGME. The Surgery Residency Review Committee has approved the program for nine categorical general surgery positions for PGY years 1-5 and six preliminary general surgery positions for PGY years 1 and 2. The preliminary positions are typically filled by those individuals completing internships before entering other programs. Applications for the Emory General Surgery Residency Program are accepted through the ERAS system, and the deadline for receipt of applications is November 1.

Thomas F. Dodson, MD, is the program director of the general surgery residency. He has received a variety of teaching and physicians awards, including being listed in the 2005-06 edition of Best Doctors in America.

The surgery specialties within the Department of Surgery at Emory are:

		Cardiothoracic Surgery
		General and Gastrointestinal Surgery
		Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
		Pediatric Surgery
		Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
		Surgical Oncology
		Transplantation
		Trauma/Surgical Critical Care
		Vascular Surgery

By formal agreement, residents matched in the urology program at Emory are also accepted by the general surgery program for their requisite surgical training.

In the past five years, 65% of the program's residents have proceeded to outstanding fellowships throughout the country. Of the nine residents who completed the program in 2007, eight are pursuing further training in plastic surgery, colorectal surgery, surgical oncology, surgical critical care, vascular surgery and laparoscopic surgery and one is in private practice. Ethnic and religious diversity are hallmarks of the resident population, approximately 30% of whom are women.

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 Laparoscopic/Endoscopic Skills Labs

The Emory Simulation, Training and Robotics Center (ESTAR) sponsors mandatory resident laparoscopic and endoscopic skills labs throughout the academic year that meet RRC training requirements. The workshops are made possible in part by an educational grant from Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. Faculty and fellows of the Emory Endosurgery Unit generously volunteer their time to direct these sessions, providing one-on-one teaching and feedback using endoscopy and laparoscopic simulators by Immersion Medical, laparoscopic trainers by Haptica and endoscopy equipment by Olympus America.

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 Teaching Facilities

In 2007, the case load for interns averaged 108 and chief residents finished with an average of 1251 cases. Residents rotate through six hospitals:

		Emory University Hospital, an adult, tertiary care facility where residents spend approximately 40% of their time.
		Emory Crawford Long Hospital, the primary care facility of Emory University.
		Grady Memorial Hospital, the Atlanta-area public hospital containing a Level I Trauma Center and Burn Unit where residents spend another 40% of their time.
		Atlanta VA Medical Center
		Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston
		Piedmont Hospital

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 Research

Resident participation in research is encouraged but not required. The department provides both academic leave and financial support for residents presenting research at professional meetings. Residents may leave the program after their second or third year for research fellowships that typically last two years, though the length depends on the circumstances of individual residents. The department maintains a wide range of active clinical research projects and research facilities in transplant immunology, vascular surgery and biomaterials, laparoscopic surgery, endocrine surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery and pediatric surgery. Residents can also obtain research positions at other institutions.

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 Contact

General Surgery Residency Program
Thomas Dodson, MD
H120 Emory University Hospital
1364 Clifton Road, NE
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, GA 30322
Telephone: 404.727.0093

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