NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s General Surgery Residency in Manhattan prepares graduates for careers in surgery. In our program residents gain the skills, understanding, and expertise to evaluate and surgically treat patients with a broad range of conditions.

Department of Surgery Orientation

In preparation of the start of the residency, new trainees participate in NYU Langone and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue general orientation sessions plus a Department of Surgery orientation. These sessions, which take place during the week before the beginning of the academic year, introduce residents to the workings of the Department of Surgery, acquaint them with faculty and house staff, and prepare them for the first days of clinical duties.

Rotations

Throughout the program residents gain increasing levels of skill and take on progressive levels of responsibility. Throughout the residency, trainees receive support and guidance from our renowned faculty and staff.

Working under the direct supervision of senior residents, fellows, and faculty surgeons, residents rotate through the services of our three diverse training sites. Four-week rotations are as follows:

• general surgery
• colorectal surgery
• pediatric surgery
• trauma and acute care surgery
• surgical intensive care unit
• transplantation surgery
• surgical oncology
• cardiothoracic surgery
• vascular surgery
• minimally invasive and bariatric surgery
• endocrine surgery

Years 1 and 2: Foundational Surgery Residency

The first two years of the residency teach perioperative care and technical surgical skills with increasing operative responsibility. Additionally, residents are introduced to surgical consults early and learn the workup and management of surgical patients.

Year 3: Assistant Chief–Consultant

During the third year, residents spend one third of their time as a surgical consult and two thirds as an assistant chief resident on services at Kimmel Pavilion and Bellevue. In this role residents have graduated responsibility. They continue to rotate through our hospitals and begin taking on more chief responsibilities, including supervising junior residents and teaching third-year students.

Years 4 and 5: Junior and Senior Chief Residency

In the fourth and fifth years, residents take on senior responsibilities under direct faculty supervision during clinical rotations in all three hospitals.

Chief residents have broad responsibilities that include the following:

• administration of the service
• teaching junior residents
• organizing conferences
• managing pre- and post-hospitalization care
• surgical planning
• performing major operative procedures under faculty supervision

Chief resident rotations provide trainees with the advanced knowledge, technical skill, and experience that enable them to progress to fellowship, become board certified, and establish strong clinical practice.

Preliminary Program

The General Surgery Residency currently accepts applications for the preliminary surgery program through Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Applications are accepted for the following tracks:

• integrated interventional-radiology and diagnostic radiology
• other designated preliminary positions
• non-designated preliminary positions

Operative Experience

Our graduating general surgery chief residents perform approximately 1,200 operations by the completion of the five-year program. The surgical experience ranges from general surgery to subspecialty surgery, with strong experiences in the following areas:

• colorectal surgery
• endocrine surgery
• hepatopancreatobiliary surgery
• minimally invasive and robotic surgery
• surgical oncology
• transplant surgery
• trauma and acute care surgery

Didactic Program

Residents have a three-hour protected educational block of time each week. In addition, residents participate in departmental and service specific educational opportunities. This teaching program includes the following:

SCORE Core Curriculum Lecture Series

The series is based on the SCORE^® curriculum and covers the scope of the surgery curriculum from basic science fundamentals and pathophysiology to operative technique and clinical decision making. Presentations are largely resident driven in conjunction with expert faculty.

Other didactic programs include the following:

• diversity, equity, and inclusion
• wellness
• financial planning
• fellowship and practice planning
• resident research seminar series
• oral boards preparation
• ABSITE review sessions
• quality improvement

Departmental Conferences

All residents, regardless of assigned rotation, attend departmental conferences, including Mortality and Morbidity conference and Grand Rounds. Additionally, each rotation has educational conference requirements specific to its sub-specialty. This includes specialty specific journal clubs.

Resident Research

There are broad opportunities for our residents to engage in research during their surgical training. Experiences range from dedicated research years to projects that can be completed while on clinical services. A wide range of options exist for surgical research, including basic science, surgical innovations, outcomes-based research, and public health. The Department of Surgery has a rare asset in our partnership with the NYU Langone Center for Surgical and Transplant Applied Research (CSTAR), which allows our surgical residents to join an exceptionally active research team to pursue mentored clinical quantitative and qualitative research in surgery. In addition, we are supportive of residents pursuing research opportunities at other institutions. Our faculty and residents participate in national and international societies and regularly present at national and international conferences.

Residents doing research at NYU Grossman School of Medicine are offered the opportunity to receive a master’s in clinical investigation. There are also opportunities to earn a PhD in epidemiology over three years at the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. In addition to dedicated research time, we are supportive of our residents pursuing advanced degrees in public health, business administration, and other areas.

NYU Grossman School of Medicine surgery residents are not required to take time off from residency training to complete research, but it is strongly supported. At present, 66 percent of residents elect to take one to two years off from training to conduct research or receive advanced degrees.

Benefits and Wellness

All residents are provided with low-cost medical and dental insurance, disability and life insurance, and four weeks of paid vacation per year in addition to a book fund and conference fund. Residents may also take advantage of many benefits and discounts provided through NYU Langone.

The Department of Surgery is committed to the wellbeing of our faculty and residents. Our program and the institution have dedicated wellness committees run by residents with faculty support. Our residency sponsors social events—such as Central Park outings, sporting events, holiday parties, and post-exam celebrations—for surgery house staff. We work to ensure that on-call schedules are finalized at least three months in advance to allow for optimal work–life balance and planning. We do our best to accommodate all time off and scheduling requests from our residents. In addition, NYU Langone also provides access to graduate medical education–dedicated mental health physicians with extended late-night and weekend hours for all house staff.

Housing

A small number of subsidized on-campus apartments are made available, with priority given to first-year house staff and house staff moving from out of state. Learn more about housing for house staff, including off-campus resources. Send questions about housing to Housing@NYULangone.org.