General Surgery Director's Message


Dr. Richard J. Scriven, Program Director

Our residency program exists to train knowledgeable and clinically competent surgeons for the 21st century. We have assembled a faculty interested in resident education, clinical innovations, and advances in basic and clinical research. In this way, we have assured that our resident trainees are not only exposed to the scientific basis of surgical practice, but interact with faculty who are dedicated to the pursuit of new knowledge and the development of new technologies in surgical care.

We are committed first and foremost to providing residents with both broad and in-depth exposure to surgical diseases. This is achieved by rotations at three hospitals, each of which provides a somewhat different environment for learning.

Our training program is based on graded resident responsibility with the emphasis in the first two years on preoperative assessment, perioperative care and performance of basic procedures, followed in later years by progressive responsibility for increasingly complex operative procedures and clinical management. As a result, our graduating residents are solidly grounded in all aspects of the essential components of general surgery.

We also put significant emphasis on teaching the fundamentals of surgery and on surgical research. This is accomplished through a regular series of structured educational sessions which follow a standard curriculum and occur both departmentally and in each individual hospital on a weekly basis. A visiting professor series is an essential component of our curriculum, which allows exposure of both our faculty and residents to national leaders in surgery.

Opportunities for basic and applied research exist within the various divisions of the Department and through collaborations with other basic science departments. Residents are encouraged to produce and analyze data for both presentation at local, regional, and national meetings and publication in peer-reviewed journals. The faculty is dedicated to working with each of our residents to achieve these ends.

This intellectual and academic exercise will be useful in forming patterns of scholarly activity and analysis that will be useful in the future for all of our residents whether or not they choose an academic career.

Ultimately, the training program you select should have a broad clinical base that enables you to experience a variety of educational environments. We believe that our residency program in surgery accomplishes this with faculty dedicated to resident education and the advancement of surgical science. As such, we are confident that you will find ours a superior program for your clinical training.

Richard J. Scriven, MD
Associate Professor of Surgery
Director, General Surgery Residency