The residents rotate through a breath of surgical specialties to cement a broad foundation in surgery. The intern year is divided between many services to facilitate a basic understanding of the specific domains. The residents rotate through the services for a longer time during years 2 through 5. This promotes continuity of care, and allows residents to gain a deeper understanding of the pre-operative, intra-operative and post operative management for the specific patient population. The surgical rotations are divided between multiple practice settings, including an urban tertiary referral centers with a level 1/2 trauma centers, Veterans Affairs hospital as well as  suburban/rural hospitals, allowing for an exposure to a wide variety of surgical experience. There are approximately 2-4 residents in each team, which minimizes competition for cases. Here is a sample rotation schedule.

 

 

Case Volume

Our goal is to provide the residents with the surgical foundation that will help them succeed both in general surgery practice as well as fellowship. The residents at LSU Surgery are encouraged to operate early in their training and often. The interns and the residents perform well above the minimum number of cases required by ACGME. The chief residents graduate with approximately 1350 cases on average, and feel comfortable entering practice immediately following residency. 

 

Resident Training Liaison and Oversight

The Program Director maintains contact with faculty members placed in positions of supervision and oversight of residency training. Faculty members are encouraged to discuss resident issues with the Program Director in personal interviews and at the monthly faculty meetings. The Program Director also meets with the faculty members four times a year during the resident evaluation meetings. At this time, any aspect of the training program is open for discussion.