Core Conferences

Wednesday has been designated as Education Day in the General Surgery residency. Clinics and elective operating time have been organized to eliminate conflicts and to allow nearly all residents to attend Education Day events each week. Residents rotating on services of the Divisions of General and Pediatric Surgery are expected to participate in all Education Day activities.

Education Day begins with Chiefs’ Conference at which the service chief residents lead the discussion of morbidity, mortality, and interesting cases. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP) criteria are used to define reportable morbidity. After a brief break, Chiefs’ Conference is followed by the Power Hour conference. The Power Hour conference is interactive and case-based and is led by rotating faculty members. The Power Hour is designed to help each resident prepare for the American Board of Surgery Qualifying and Certifying examinations. The Power Hour topics follow a 3-year curriculum, touching upon all the topics defined as essential to the general surgeon by the American Board of Surgery and by the Residency Review Committee for Surgery. The Power Hour takes its name from the concepts that “Knowledge is Power” and the “Power of 10”, and it reflects the commitment of every general surgeon to his or her patients through at least 10 hours of self-directed study each week.

Formal attending rounds are made on most services on Wednesday afternoons to complete the Education Day schedule.

Other activities including Visiting Professor presentations, PGY-1 resident interviews, medical student group discussion sessions, and Resident Council. Meetings are also held on Wednesdays.

Additional conferences are attended routinely by residents on some services and are open to all whose clinical obligations permit their participation:

Trauma M&M - 4th Tuesday of each month, 0630 hours
Tumor Conference - every Wednesday, 0800 hours
Vascular Surgery Journal Club - 2nd Thursday of each month, 1830 hour
G.I. Conference (multidisciplinary) - 4th Tuesday of each month, 1600 hours
VAMC General Surgery M&M - every Tuesday, 0800 hours