Welcome

The Department of Surgery and Anesthesia directs the required core clinical rotation in General Surgery, which includes a series of hands-on skills labs beginning in the second year that help prepare all students for this clinical rotation. The skills lab consists of five separate training stations including airway management, scrubbing, gowning and gloving, laparoscopy skills, suturing, nasogastric tube and foley placement, and Focused Assessment Sonography for Trauma (FAST). The department co-coordinates a Surgical Intensive Care Unit Core Rotation with the Department of Internal Medicine that satisfies the core ICU requirement. The department offers elective surgical rotations including: Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Burn Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, colorectal surgery, Anesthesia, pain management, Neurosurgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Trauma Surgery, Transplant Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Urology. During the second the skills-based surgery is offered for those interested in surgery or obtaining some cognitive and psychomotor surgical skills.

Introduction

The Department of Surgery and Anesthesia conducts didactic teaching throughout the four years of medical school by teaching, lecturing, and participating in workshops. In the second year, the department offers a skills-based surgery elective. The department coordinates the required core clinical rotation during the third year in General Surgery. Using both preceptor-based and residency-based clinical settings, this rotation helps the student transition from the classroom to the clinical environment by exposing the student to various aspects of patients in a General Surgery practice or within a hospital setting. Prior to the core General Surgery rotation, each student participates in a required skills-based workshop that maximize the student's learning potential and successful completion of the core surgery rotation. The hands-on skills lab consists of five separate stations including airway management: scrubbing, gowning, gloving, operating room etiquette, laparoscopy skills, wound closure/suturing principles and techniques nasogastric tube and foley catheter placement. During the rotation, students are required to post a case in which they have participated during the rotation. These topics are pre-approved from a list. Each student will peer-review another student’s case report on a CANVAS discussion board. This ensures that all students are exposed to various cases that they may not have seen on their rotation. Students are required to develop a plan for a Quality Improvement/Patient Safety project to prepare them for residency (ACGME requirement). During the fourth year, the department coordinates elective surgical rotations including, Anesthesia, Burn Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedic Surgery, Otolaryngology, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Transplant Surgery, Trauma Surgery, Urology, and Vascular Surgery. Together with the Department of Internal Medicine, the department also coordinates a Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) Core clinical rotation.

Department Faculty:

Alexzandra Hollingworth, M.D., M.Ed., F.A.C.S
Department Chair
Trauma, Critical Care, Acute Care and General Surgeon
aholli@midwestern.edu

Marc Brandon, M.D.
Faculty-Anesthesia Anesthesiologist
mbrand@midwestern.edu

Ann-Cheri Foxx, M.D.
Faculty-Anesthesia
Anesthesiologist and Pain Management
afoxx@midwestern.edu

Tanja Gunsberger, D.O., F.A.O.C.S

Faculty-Surgery

General and Acute Care Surgeon Tgunsb@midwestern.edu