Dedicated Training Tracks

In order to better prepare our residents to assume leadership positions in academic surgery, we have developed three unique training tracks for our residents.

• Surgeon Scientist
• International/Rural Surgery
• Public Policy/ Comparative Effectiveness

These tracks entail focused educational, research and leadership efforts in each of the specified areas. This training is incorporated into our broader general surgery curriculum.

Our goal is to train surgical leaders. We have designed our educational program to focus on operative management of surgical disease as well as perioperative and surgical critical care.  Our graduates finish the program with the skills, clinical maturity and confidence to tackle the most complex surgical problems and offer the best care.

Within the framework of our strong clinical education program we recognize that one model of training does not fit everyone. In order to help our graduates succeed, we have developed three distinct training tracks that a resident can select after their 3rd clinical year.

The three tracks are as follows:

Surgeon Scientist

This track offers the resident an opportunity to develop the skills to be research oriented academic surgeons. Utilizing the resource of the UC Davis Stem Cell Program and Regenerative Medicine Program as well as our collaborative efforts with regenerative medicine program based out of David Grant Medical Center. The clinical focus of this track can be geared in the last years towards the resident’s specialty of choice (MIS, Surgical Oncology, Acute Care Surgery, Vascular), specifically in the academic environment.

International/Rural Surgery

Recognizing that medicine is now global and that many challenges facing those who practice in an international environment are similar to those faced in rural America, we developed a distinct international/rural surgery track. This track offers two separate routes, the rural surgery route gives a resident the experiences to finish general surgery training and go directly into practice in a rural community with limited resources.

The international path paves the way to be a leader in global health. With the leadership of Dr Diana Farmer, we have developed a robust international experience.  A year or 2 year rotations has been established in East London, South Africa. This experience is a combination of clinical/operative cases and collaborative research focusing on common diseases in the region. There is an opportunity to obtain an MPH from University of Capetown. We are currently developing experiences at other sites, specifically in the Philippines.

Public Policy/ Comparative Effectiveness

Surgical leadership is essential in the current medical climate. The challenge is that the current climate diverges from traditional surgical expertise and focuses on public policy and development of efficient care delivery systems. To meet this challenge we have utilized our local resources with the State Capitol, UC Davis School of Business, and Institute of Comparative Effectiveness to develop a Public Policy/Comparative Effectiveness track. This track combines work experience and mentoring in public policy with research focused on development of effective and efficient delivery of surgical care. The final years of clinical training within this track can be focused in the resident’s chosen specialty (MIS, Surgical Oncology, Acute Care Surgery, Vascular)