Year 1 and 2: The Basic Surgery Residency

The first two years teach peri-operative care and technical surgical skills with increasing operative responsibility. Residents rotate through the services of the three hospitals and work under the direct supervision of senior residents, fellows and faculty surgeons. The clinical program is supplemented by a didactic program in the surgery basic sciences and core departmental and divisional conferences. Residents also have a Skills lab curriculum for learning and mastering surgical techniques from knot-tying to advanced laparoscopy.

Rotations through different services are between 1 and 2 months duration and follow these approximately:

• 9 months in general surgery
• 1 month in neurological surgery
• 1 month in emergency medicine
• 1 month in pediatric surgery
• 2 months in trauma
• 1 month in transplantation
• 1 month in plastic/hand
• 1 month in burn unit
• 1 month in cardiothoracic
• 3 months in vascular surgery
• 1 month in urologic surgery
• 1 month in laparoscopic/bariatric
• 1 month in endoscopy

Year 3: Assistant Chief / Consultant
During the third year, residents spend two-thirds of their time as a surgical consult and a third as an assistant chief resident on services at Tisch, Bellevue and the Manhattan VA. The responsibilities include consultation to inpatient services, outpatient clinics, and the emergency room, supervision of junior residents and teaching of third-year students.

The year includes rotations in general, trauma, breast, laparoscopic and vascular surgery, as well as rotations with senior resident responsibility in cardiothoracic and transplantation surgery.

Years 4 and 5: Junior and Senior Chief Residency
In the fourth year, residents move to senior responsibilities under direct faculty supervision during clinical rotations in general surgery, endocrine surgery, laparoscopic/bariatrics, pediatric, vascular, oncology and gastrointestinal surgery at Tisch Hospital.
In the fifth year, chief surgical residents rotate through Bellevue and the VA hospitals on the general, vascular and trauma services. Chief residents have broad responsibilities which include administration of the service, teaching junior residents, organization of conferences, pre- and post- hospitalization care, surgical planning and (independent) performance of major operative procedures under close faculty supervision. Operative data from 2007 graduating chief residents shows a mean of 989 total cases during the residency.

The assistant chief andsenior resident rotationsprovide the base ofknowledge, technicalskill, and experienceleading to the ability tofunction as a chiefresident. This setupallows for a naturalprogression from asupervised to asupervisory role.Senior residents receive faculty appointments as teaching assistants in the NYU School of Medicine.