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Surgery Clerkship (SC)

8 weeks

Clerkship Director
Vaishali Schuchert, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine
Department of Surgery
schuchertv@upmc.edu

Clerkship Co-Director
Kelly McCoy, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Department of Surgery
mccoykl@upmc.edu

Clerkship Co-Director
Gregory A. Watson, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine
Department of Surgery
watsong@upmc.edu

Clerkship Co-Director
Anthony Cyr, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Department of Surgery
cyrar@upmc.edu

Course Description

This 8-week clerkship covers the discipline of Surgery. Students are assigned to two 3-week clinical rotations preceded by a Launch Week of didactics and hands-on workshops and followed by a Wrap Up week. Students apply their clinical skills under direct supervision of residents, fellows, and faculty. Students will learn how to appropriately assess, present, and manage surgical patients. 

Surgery Clerkship Global Learning Objectives:

  1. Explain the etiology, differential diagnosis and management of common diseases requiring surgical care.
  2. Recognize the need for routine, urgent, and emergent surgical referrals.
  3. Understand the principles of perioperative risk assessment and optimization.

Course Objectives

  1. Demonstrate application of clinical knowledge to the care of surgical patients.
  2. Conduct a focused interview as indicated by the clinical presentation.
  3. Conduct a focused physical exam as indicated by the surgical condition.
  4. Present patients in an organized, accurate, and succinct manner in written notes and oral presentations.
  5. Recommend and interpret indicated laboratory and diagnostic studies and incorporate these data with the history and physical exam to synthesize a differential diagnosis and problem list.
  6. Recommend optimal patient management with alternative strategies.
  7. Demonstrate engagement and understanding of indications, anatomy, and operative risks in the operating room.
  8. Demonstrate professionalism through integrity, dependability, and responsibility.
  9. Take initiative in patient care responsibilities and foster commitment to learning through self-directed inquiry and practice of technical skills.
  10. Demonstrate growth by incorporating formative feedback and continued self-assessment.
  11. Demonstrate compassionate interactions with the patients and families.
  12. Function as an active and integral member of the multidisciplinary patient team.
  13. Develop an understanding of the impact of nonmedical determinants of health on outcomes of surgical patients.

Educational Methods

  • Clinical experiences (rounds, OR, outpatient clinic)
  • Lectures and conferences
  • Workshops
  • Simulations
  • Standardized patient sessions (OSCE)

Evaluation

The grading components are: Clinical performance (60%), NBME Shelf Exam (20%), Preparation for the OR (10%), Social Determinants of Health Discharge Planning Assignment (5%), and formative weekly quizzes (5%).

Surgery Clerkship Grading: Honors, High Satisfactory, Satisfactory, Low Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory.