General Surgery Programs

[yellow]

Hey,

 

 

I was wondering if anyone could comment on the general surgery programs across the country? Specifically, in terms of good learning environments and colleagial atmosphere.

 

 

I think the main schools I'm considering are ones in Alberta, Ontario and Dal.

 

 

Kirsteen...I think you may have some ideas?

 

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[svp2k5]

You will hear different things, but bottom line is that you will be trained well at any program across the country.

 

Traditionally, UWO and Edmonton have been thought to have the best training for general surgery. At both schools, you will be working hard and will get lots of operative experience (the two go hand in hand). By your senior residency (4th and 5th years) you will be the primary surgeon for most cases. The benefit for both programs is that there are very few fellows around, which means you will get more hands on training early.

 

Dalhousie is also a really decent program. It has among the most operative experience anywhere in the country. There are required community rotations, but these basically allow you to operate everyday of the week. You also get to do several months on the transplant team, and at Dal, there are no transplant fellows so you get a lot of experience.

 

For Academics, Toronto has a really good program. There are a tremendous amount of research opportunities with many well known surgeons. The downfall is that there are a ton of fellows, and which impacts on the amoutn of operating you get to do.

 

Hamilton and Ottawa seem like the have average programs. Both schools have a good MIS training, but the operative experience isn't as good as UWO/Edmonton/Dal.

 

Calgary is a newer program, and has a lot of young, motivated staff. There is a lot of operative experience, but not as much research. They have a good trauma program as well.

 

Kingston is a small program and has a small referral base. Many of the big cases get brought down to Toronto. To be honest I haven't heard many great things about the program, but I am sure its a great fit for some people.

 

In terms of collegiality, its tough to know unless you are in the program. Although UWO has a bad rep for this, I have found that people get a long well, the surgeons have been great teachers and the other residents (especially the senior years) are really good to work with/learn from.

 

I think a big aspect of choosing a program is what your future plans are. If you are a person that really wants to be involved in hard core research throughout their career, you should really look at U of T. Other schools have good research programs, but it is hard to compete with U of T.

 

If you are interested in a more clinical specific career, I would suggest other schools besides Toronto. Fellowships are also a consideration as Ibelieve almost 75% of residents pursue one. Each school has different fellowships which are strong.

 

I think the unique programs are as follows:

 

UBC: This is a 6 year program (vs 5 for every other school). The advantage of this is that you have a funded year to do a masters degree (some residents go to Harvard, and you aren't limited to staying in Vancouver). If you plan to do a masters degree, every school except UWO would require you to add on an extra year and acquire funding.

 

UWO: Western's third year of general surgery is what they call your elective year. Basically its an entire year with no required rotations. Residents have completed masters degrees at some pretty good schools (Harvard, Stanford, Hamilton and Toronto) without having to add an extra year to their residency. Others spend the year operating in the community or doing research. There is also an option to start an ICU fellowship in this year (plus tacking on a extra fellowhip year after PGY 5) which allows you to finish this fellowship in 1 extra year vs. two extra.

 

Otherwise the programs are very similar in their required rotations and electives.

 

I hope this helps. For me, the biggest considerations were whether I wanted to get involved in research and continue a career in research. Also trying to decide whether you want to be working in the community vs an academic setting.

 

Again, I think that you probably get trained well at most places, and really comes down to personal preferences.

[Macster]

Awesome post. . .very helpful. Thanks!

[yellow]

yes, very very awesome post.

 

 

thanks a lot!

[shaka84]

UBC is no longer a six year program. I has become a five year program to align with the other gen surg programs in canada.

 

shaka