St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center
Department of Surgery Residency Program

Department of Surgery
Historical Background
Present Leadership
Modern Environment
Physician Extenders
The Training Program
Responsibilities and Rotations
Surgery Residency Training Program
Didactic Program
Research Opportunities
Medical Libraries
General Information
Application Procedures

Prior to the merger of the St. Luke's and Roosevelt Hospitals in 1979, both institutions had rich historical pasts and had residency programs which graduated surgeons who have made major contributions in surgery in the US.

The Syms Operating Pavilion opened in 1882 at Roosevelt Hospital and was known as the finest facility of its kind in New York and the best appointed operating building in this country. Charles McBurney, MD, best known for conceiving the muscle-splitting incision of appendectomy, was the surgeon responsible for the Pavilion. William Halstead, known as the father of modern American surgery, spent four years at Roosevelt prior to moving to Baltimore to become the first chief of surgery at Johns Hopkins. A major figure in establishing the field of thoracic surgery, Max Chamberlain, MD, was the chief of Thoracic Surgery for 13 years. Two chiefs of Surgery, Henry Cave, MD and Howard Patterson, MD, were presidents of the American College of Surgeons.

At St. Luke's Hospital, the first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer was performed in 1935 by Henry Lyle, MD and Alexander Ada, MD. Hugh Fitzpatrick, MD, performed the first open heart operation in New York in 1955. George Green, MD, began pioneering work that established the internal mammary artery as the preferred graft of revascularization of the coronary arteries in 1968.

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PRESENT LEADERSHIP

Chairman	George J. Todd, MD, FACS
Vice Chairman	Richard A. Marks, MD, FACS
Residency Program Director	James J. McGinty, MD
Associate Program Directors	Raymond Wedderburn, MD Eric Moore, MD M. David Tilson, MD, FACS
Site Director, St. Luke's	Domingo Nuñez, MD, FACS
Clinical Divisions	Chief
Breast Surgery	Alison Estabrook, MD, FACS
Bariatric Surgery	James McGinty, Jr., MD, FACS
Cardiothoracic Surgery	Daniel Swistel, MD
Clinical Research	John Lantis, MD
Colorectal Surgery	Lester Gottesman, MD
Hepatobiliary Surgery	Fadi Attiyeh, MD, FACS
Laparoscopic Surgery	James McGinty, Jr., MD, FACS
Plastic Surgery	Mark D. Sultan, MD, FACS
Pediatric Surgery	Lief Holgersen, MD, FACS
Robotic Surgery	Scott Belsley , MD
Thoracic Surgery	Cliff Connery, MD, FACS
Transplant Surgery	Alan I. Benvenisty, MD, FACS
Trauma Surgery/Surgical Critical Care	Raymond Wedderburn, MD

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MODERN ENVIRONMENT

Surgery residents of St. Luke's-Roosevelt train in completely modern facilities with state-of-the-art operating suites. The ORs are equipped for a variety of new technologies, including the most advanced anesthesia and monitoring equipment currently available. At St. Luke's, there are 12 operating rooms and 2 cystoscopy suites and at Roosevelt there are 15 operating rooms and 2 cystoscopy suites. Adjacent to the ORs at both divisions are recovery rooms, large ambulatory surgery suites and holding areas.


PHYSICIAN EXTENDERS

The Department of Surgery has nurse practitioners who work closely with the residents on each of the busiest surgical teams. Their roles include making the rounds, discharge planning and clinic coverage. They are a vital part of each team, providing an increased awareness and understanding of issues related to length-of-stay reduction and improved continuity of care of the patients.


THE TRAINING PROGRAM

Accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, the surgical residency offers both categorical and preliminary training programs. The five-year categorical program leads to residents being eligible for examination by the American Board of Surgery. Five residents are matched in the categorical track each year. The current compliment of residents includes 35 residents, two research fellows, and one colorectal fellow.


RESPONSIBILITIES AND ROTATIONS

There are five surgical teams, three at St. Luke's and two at Roosevelt, that provide the basic foundation in clinical training. During the first two years, residents rotate through specialty services as outlined below. All rotations are based at St. Luke's-Roosevelt except for a one-month rotation in Burns at the Jacobi Medical Center during the PGY-1 year.

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SURGERY RESIDENCY TRAINING PROGRAM

PGY-1
PGY-1 residents are responsible for documenting the initial history and physical examination, and for the basic pre- and post-operative care of patients under the supervision of senior residents and attending staff. The PGY-1 acquires psychomotor and technical proficiency commensurate with his or her skills, while performing procedures at the bedside and in the Emergency Department under the direct supervision of attending staff. Rotations include the general surgery teams, Orthopedics, ICU, vascular, Gynecology, Urology, Anesthesia, and Emergency Department.

PGY-2
At the PGY-2 level, resident responsibilities are increased to provide for growth in obtaining and interpreting pertinent data and making important decisions regarding patient care. Technical experience in the operating room continues to accelerate under the supervision of the attending staff. Rotations include tours on the general surgery teams, cardiac surgery, vascular surgery, the surgical critical care unit at the Roosevelt site, and an elective rotation.

PGY-3
The PGY-3 resident becomes the middle-level resident of the surgical team. The year includes rotations on the surgical critical care unit at the St. Luke's division, Pediatric Surgery, and various general surgical services. Emphasis remains on the continued development of surgical skill and greater responsibility for surgical judgment and decisions necessary for patient management, both pre- and post-operatively.

PGY-4
PGY-4 residents become senior assistant residents on the surgical teams and begin to acquire the organizational and interpersonal skills to be the senior member of a clinical service. At this level, residents assume greater responsibility for teaching.

PGY-5
The chief resident year carries major operative experience and teaching responsibilities as the team leader in general, thoracic and vascular surgery. The PGY-5 resident has senior management responsibility for patients in consultation with the attending staff. During this time, the resident also is exposed to the most technically challenging surgical cases. On completing this year, residents will be experienced clinical surgeons, who have developed good judgment and compassion for their patients. They will have learned to read the literature critically, express concepts clearly in conferences, and will be prepared for a lifetime career in surgery. Chief residents will be ready to undertake additional fellowship training if desired and, with the background of an optional one or two years in research, will have had abundant opportunity to prepare for academic careers with expertise in aspects of laboratory research.


DIDACTIC PROGRAM
In addition to comprehensive clinical training, the surgical resident program offers a solid core curriculum and a full range of formal and informal training programs. Residents actively participate in teaching conferences at both divisions.

• Grand Rounds
• Chief Resident Conferences
• Specialty Conferences in Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Breast, Colorectal, Neurosurgery, Transplant, Thoracic Surgery, Vascular Surgery and Trauma
• Journal Club
• Mortality and Morbidity Conference
• Orthopedic Grand Rounds
• Teaching Rounds
• Textbook Chapter Review
• SESAP Review

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RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Participation in ongoing research programs is required during the residency years. In addition to this ongoing experience, residents can gain a more intense research experience through a full-time, one-year fellowship scheduled between the third and fourth years of training. This may be arranged at a variety of laboratories in the New York City area.


MEDICAL LIBRARIES

Medical libraries are located at both divisions. The libraries, which are open seven days a week, provide access to an extensive collection of medical journals and texts. Residents also can take advantage of all of the facilities of Columbia University, including the Health Sciences Center Library. This library has one of the world's most extensive collections of medical and research documents.


GENERAL INFORMATION

During the five-year training program, residents will perform between 500 and 800 cases under the supervision of the attending staff. Approximately 175 cases will be done during the chief year. As required by the RRC for Surgery, each resident keeps a record of all cases in which he or she participates and enters them in the ACGME procedure log.


APPLICATION PROCEDURES

All PGY-1 positions are filled through the National Resident Match Program with the electronic residency applications service (ERAS). All applications are reviewed through ERAS.

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For Further Information Contact:

Surgery Residency Program
Department of Surgery
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
1000 10th Avenue, Suite 2B
New York, NY 10019

Phone: (212) 523-7780
Fax: (212) 523-6495