Surgery Core Clerkship

The surgery clerkship is an eight week rotation. Upon completion, the students are expected to understand the basics of surgical disease processes, as well as the decision making used to manage surgical patients. The clerks will be an integral part of the surgical team, be responsible for patient care and will participate in surgical procedures. The activities of general surgeons and surgeons in specialty fields will be experienced first hand in both inpatient and outpatient settings. The students will learn basic surgical techniques and the management of minor wounds of violence.

The clerkship is divided into three sections. The first week is introductory and consists of 4 hours of suture training and instruction in minor wound management. There are 10 hours of hands-on practical experience in the Skills Lab and Anatomy Lab. These sessions are devoted to anatomic review, surgical procedures, laboratory value interpretation, order writing, and hemodynamic monitoring. There are also14 hours of interactive lecture. A 40 question test will be given at the end of the first week. This test is a tool to encourage the students to keep up on their studies, and also to evaluate the students’ understanding of the material covered. The purpose of the first week is to prepare the students for their operating room experiences and to lighten their load during their clinical rotations.

The next six weeks are devoted to two three-week clinical rotations. During each rotation there are weekly interactive teaching sessions conducted by surgery faculty. A quiz will be given each week that covers the material taught in the previous week. Students are expected to attend the resident teaching sessions, Grand Rounds, and Professor’s Hour. All students must complete at least one general surgery rotation. They may have two general surgery rotations or one general surgery rotation and one specialty rotation. Student rotations are assigned by the Student Education Coordinator based upon availability and student preference. Specialty rotations include: Burns, Transplant, Urology, Pediatric Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and Cardiothoracic Surgery. Clinical performance evaluations are based on clinical expertise, fund of knowledge, work ethic and professionalism. The students will receive verbal mid-rotation feedback from the Clerkship Director. A written evaluation form will be completed for each student at the end of each clinical rotation.

During the 7th week of the clerkship each student will participate in an oral examination. The oral exams are pass/fail. These exams are conducted by surgery faculty and assess the students’ ability to diagnose surgical diseases and formulate treatment plans based upon information provided by the examiners.

During the final week of the clerkship, students have the opportunity to observe surgical procedures of their choosing. This broadens their surgical exposure by enabling them to see cases they have not seen before. Lectures are provided on subspecialty topics throughout the last week. The NBME written Surgery examination is given to the students on the last day of the clerkship.

Final grades are determined as follows:
Week One test = 10%
Weekly Quizzes = 20% (5 quizzes at 4% each)
Clinical Rotation 1 = 20%
Clinical Rotation 2 = 20%
Written NBME Exam = 30%
Oral examination results do not factor into the final score.
The student must score the mean or above on the final exam to be eligible for high pass or honors for the clerkship. Students are ranked in numerical order based up on their final grade. Approximately the top 15% will receive Honors for the clerkship and approximately the next 25% will receive a grade of High Pass.
Student grades are not negotiable.

For more information about the Surgery Student Education please contact:

Elaine Zumeta
Student Education Coordinator
Elaine.Zumeta.uc.edu
558-2134

or Amit Tevar, M.D.
Director, Surgical Student Education
Amit.tevar@uc.edu