Career Development - Surgery | Tulane School of Medicine

What Does Training Look Like?

Residency in surgery involves usually a five to seven year residency where you are trained in general surgery and all surgical fields. Following residency there is the option of a Fellowship in any one of numerous sub-specialties in which you will gain additional training over the course of usually one to two additional years. There are also other direct admission residencies for such fields as Ears, Nose & Throat (ENT), Urology, and Orthopaedic Surgery, to name a few.

Subspecialties

Almost every body system has a sub-specialty, such as Cardiothoracic, Plastic Surgery, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, Bariatric Surgery, Surgical Oncology, and many more.

What Does a Typical Workday Look Like?

As an attending, fully trained surgeon, the average work week is usually split between the clinic and the operating room. According to the American College of Surgeons, the average general surgeon works 50-60 hours per week, not including on-call time. Residency usually requires a greater time commitment, with weekly hours ranging between 50, but no more than 80 per week on average.

Important Qualities and Traits

Qualities recognized as important to surgery include:

Determination/Perseverance
Ability to work well with others
Being a team leader

Shadowing Opportunities

Please contact C aroline Rhodes for more information about shadowing opportunities. We encourage students to only shadow one time every three months.

Research Opportunities

The Surgery Department focuses research on Minimally Invasive Surgery, Robotic Surgery, Surgical Education, Endocrinology, Oncology, Transplant, and Trauma. Please contact Dr. Danielle Tatum, who is the Director of Research in the Department of Surgery.

Additionally, students may want to pursue research opportunities through the DeBakey Scholars Program. This program offers medical students the opportunity to pursue and complete a longitudinal, structured, closely supervised research experience culminating in a capstone presentation prior to graduation. For more information, contact Dr. Derek Pociask.

Specialty Interest Group

Tulane Surgical Interest Group

The Tulane Surgical Interest Group (TSIG) is a student-run organization dedicated to advancing knowledge of the art and science of surgery through education, experiential opportunities, and research.

TSIG affords students a variety of rich opportunities to become immersed in the world of surgery. The group boasts a mentorship program, organizes a simulation center skills series, and holds a T4 Match Panel talk.

The Surgical Interest Group hosts speaking events where medical professionals offer a wide array of perspectives on the field of surgery, its newest advancements, and what it means to be a surgical resident or attending surgeon in medicine today. Through its programs and events, TSIG seeks to provide Tulane medical students with opportunities to explore the exciting field of surgery.

Tulane Women in Surgery Group

The purpose of the Tulane Women in Surgery Group (WIS) is to inspire, encourage and enable aspiring female surgeons to achieve their personal and professional goals. WIS facilitates substantial and repeated exposure of Tulane’s medical students to female surgeons by 1) highlighting role models at Tulane and in the local community, 2) providing networking and mentorship opportunities with female surgeons and surgical residents, and 3) providing a forum for open and guided discussion about challenges that pertain to the woman surgeon. Ultimately, WIS’ unique focus is to provide opportunities in which interests, concerns and common experiences, both professional and personal, can be effectively addressed. Many issues that are considered “women’s issues” truly pertain to all modern day surgeons; therefore, WIS is open to all members of the medical community at Tulane. The Tulane Women in Surgery Interest Group was founded in 2012 by Claire Janssen, Chelsea Grimes, Abby Nix and Laura Harper.

Who are the Specialty Academic/Career Advisors for this Specialty?

Dr. Mary Killackey -- Chair of Surgery

Dr. Patrick McGrew – Clerkship Director

Dr. Anil Paramesh – Associate Clerkship Director

Dr. David Yu -- Residency Program Director

Dr. Matthew Zelhart -- Associate Program Director for Residency

Dr. Chrissy Guidry -- Associate Program Director for Residency

Recommended T3 & T4 Coursework

Clerkship in Surgery can be taken at any time in the third year, however it is recommended that this rotation occur in the first half of the third year to allow students the opportunity to be involved in meaningful research, to position them well for sub-internships and Honor’s Surgery, and to ensure faculty know them well enough to write strong letters of recommendation.

Specialty Statistics

From "Charting Outcomes in the Match 2022"

Matched

Measure (n=826)

1. Mean number of contiguous ranks	14.2
2. Mean number of distinct specialties ranked	1.0
3. Mean USMLE Step 1 score	237
4. Mean USMLE Step 2 score	250
5. Mean number of research experiences	4.7
6. Mean number of abstracts, presentations, and publications	8.6
7. Mean number of work experiences	3.8
8. Mean number of volunteer experiences	8.9
9. Percentage who are AOA members	19.7
10. Percentage who graduated from one of the 40 U.S. medical schools with the highest NIH funding	33.1
11. Percentage who have Ph.D. degree	2.3
12. Percentage who have another graduate degree	24.3

Note: Only U.S. MD seniors who gave consent to use their information in research are included.

Sources. NRMP Data Warehouse; Top 40 U.S. medical schools with the highest NIH funding in measure 10 is from the NIH website (http://report.nih.gov/award/index.cfm).

Special Considerations When Applying for Residency

There are no special considerations when applying for residency in Surgery.

Important Advice

Focus on your Step 1 & 2.

Surgery is competitive and if your Step 1 or Step 2 is below the national average, make an appointment with Dr. Killackey as early as possible. The department and Dean’s office will work together to create a recommendation.

Surgery is hard work and at times, long hours, so you must love the field. After training, there are many possibilities on how to structure your practice, some less demanding than others – feel free to come talk to the Department leaders, we’re here to educate and help!

Where Past Tulane Students Have Matched (Past Five Years)

B I Deaconess Med Ctr-MA	BOSTON	MA	2019
Barnes-Jewish Hosp-MO	ST LOUIS	MO	2022; 2023
Baylor Scott & White Med Ctr-TX	TEMPLE	TX	2022
Boston Univ Med Ctr-MA	BOSTON	MA	2021
Brown Univ/Rhode Island Hosp	PROVIDENCE	RI	2021; 2022
Carolinas Med Ctr-NC	CHARLOTTE	NC	2019
CMSRU/Cooper University Hospital-NJ	CAMDEN	NJ	2022
Creighton Univ Affil Hosps-AZ	PHOENIX	AZ	2019
Duke Univ Med Ctr-NC	DURHAM	NC	2022
East Tennessee St Univ	JOHNSON CITY	TN	2022
Grand Strand Reg Med Ctr-SC	MYRTLE BEACH	SC	2021
Guthrie/Robert Packer Hosp-PA	SAYRE	PA	2022
Harbor-UCLA Med Ctr-CA	TORRANCE	CA	2020; 2023
HCA Brandon Reg			2021
Huntington Memorial Hosp			2021
Kirk Kerkorian SOM at UNLV-NV	LAS VEGAS	NV	2022
Lahey Clinic‐MA	BURLINGTON	MA	2020
LSU SOM-New Orleans-LA	NEW ORLEANS	LA	2020; 2022
Maimonides Med Ctr-NY	BROOKLYN	NY	2022
Mayo Clinic School of Grad Med Educ-AZ	PHOENIX	AZ	2019; 2023
Mayo Clinic School of Grad Med Educ-FL	JACKSONVILLE	FL	2019; 2021
Medical University of SC	CHARLESTON	SC	2022
MedStar Georgetown Univ Hosp-DC	WASHINGTON	DC	2023
Memorial Healthcare System-FL	PEMBROKE PINES	FL	2021
Memorial Health-Univ Med Ctr-GA	SAVANNAH	GA	2022
Methodist Hospital-Houston-TX	HOUSTON	TX	2021
Montefiore Med Ctr/Einstein-NY	BRONX	NY	2019
NYP Brooklyn Methodist Hosp‐NY	BROOKLYN	NY	2020
NYP Hosp-Columbia Univ Med Ctr-NY	NEW YORK	NY	2019
Oregon Health & Science Univ	PORTLAND	OR	2020
Orlando Health-FL	ORLANDO	FL	2019; 2021
Santa Barbara Cottage Hosp-CA	SANTA BARBARA	CA	2022
St Lukes-Bethlehem-PA	BETHLEHEM	PA	2019
Stanford Univ Progs-CA	STANFORD	CA	2019; 2021
SUNY HSC Brooklyn-NY	BROOKLYN	NY	2019
Temple Univ Hosp-PA	PHILADELPHIA	PA	2019
Tripler Army Medical Center	TRIPLER	HI	2020
Tulane Univ SOM-LA	NEW ORLEANS	LA	2019; 2020; 2021; 2022; 2023
U Arizona COM‐Tucson	TUCSON	AZ	2020
U Connecticut School of Medicine	FARMINGTON	CT	2023
U New Mexico SOM	ALBUQUERQUE	NM	2019
U Rochester/Strong Memorial-NY	ROCHESTER	NY	2021
U South Florida Morsani COM-Tampa	TAMPA	FL	2019
U Southern California	LOS ANGELES	CA	2021; 2023
U Texas Med Sch‐Houston	HOUSTON	TX	2020
U Washington Affil Hosps	SEATTLE	WA	2023
U Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics	MADISON	WI	2019
UC Irvine Med Ctr-CA	ORANGE	CA	2021
UCSF East Bay			2021
University at Buffalo SOM-NY	BUFFALO	NY	2021
University of Utah Health	SALT LAKE CITY	UT	2020
UPMC Medical Education-PA	PITTSBURGH	PA	2019
Virginia Commonwealth U Hlth Sys	RICHMOND	VA	2020
Wake Forest Baptist Med Ctr-NC	WINSTON-SALEM	NC	2019
Zucker SOM-Northwell Lenox Hill Hosp-NY	NEW YORK	NY	2020; 2021
Zucker SOM-Northwell NS/LIJ-NY	NEW HYDE PARK	NY	2022