Two thousand and seventeen marked the 100th anniversary of the Yale Department of Surgery’s surgical residency program. The program has grown significantly over the past century and offers exceptional educational opportunities for its students.
The Department of Surgery proudly offers five ACGME residencies including:
- General Surgery
- Vascular Integrated
- Cardiothoracic Surgery Integrated
- Otolaryngology
- Plastic Surgery
Yale additionally offers ACGME fellowships and non-ACGME fellowships including:
- Surgical Critical Care (ACGME)
- Pediatric Surgery (ACGME)
- Surgery of the Hand (ACGME)
- Breast Surgery
- Minimally Invasive Surgery/Bariatrics
- Endocrine Surgery
- Acute Care Surgery
- Head and Neck Cancer
Established in 2015, the Section of Surgical Education oversees the departmental affairs of the surgical residency program, with continued program development and innovation at the forefront of resident driven outcomes. Scholarly activity by Yale trainees continues to be robust. In addition to manuscript publication in surgical literature, residents and fellows are continually presenting their work at national surgical conferences.
A Bright Future for Yale Trainees
The results of the ACGME matching process was exceptional across all training programs, with Yale matriculating highly qualified national and international medical students into the Department of Surgery. Furthermore, the 2017 surgical graduates all went on to pursue either fellowship training or entered clinical practice.
During their residency, Yale surgical residents and fellows are provided with opportunities to advance their education and marketability. These opportunities include the Master’s Degree in Health Sciences for those conducting dedicated research during their training, a dedicated Global Surgery Program, the ability to obtain a Master’s Degree in Education from the Yale School of Medicine, obtaining a Master’s Degree in Public Health, and for some, enrolling in a Doctorate program in Investigative Medicine.
Yale’s Unprecedented Clinical and Educational Experiences
The continued goals of all of Yale’s surgical training programs are to provide an exceptional clinical and educational experience, train surgical scholars, and focus on professional development. Yale strives to demonstrate direct resident impact on surgical residency, with skill set enhancement outside of the operating room and wards remaining paramount. Yale’s mentoring programs additionally aim to guide mentees on career, research and lifestyle goals (“Mosaic Mentorship”), allowing for idea and learning exchanges.
Yale’s Resident Wellness and Diversity
Yale prioritizes resident wellness and offers both resident and faculty wellness programs throughout the department and the university. Dedicated programs for residents in Quality Improvement, Ethics and Clerkship Leadership with medical students continues to be a successful and enjoyable resident program.
Building autonomy into our training programs in an over-regulated health care system will aid trainees in making a smooth transition from resident/fellow to attending surgeon. Further initiatives in diversity training and feedback assessment follow those required nationally by educational governing bodies.
A Bright Future for Yale Surgical Education
Surgical education across all disciplines remains one of the many flagships of the Department of Surgery. Resource allocation and continued departmental leadership support continues to foster resident and fellow educational growth. Yale-New Haven Hospital Graduate Medical Education continues a proactive role in our training programs aiding in fulfilling our ACGME accreditation requirements, all while minimizing ACGME concerns and citations.
Our department takes great pride in being a destination institution for those who wish to obtain postgraduate training in surgery and its subspecialties and our goal is to foster the education of those driven to do so. We are proud of our one hundred year education heritage and we are well poised and looking forward to the next one hundred years.