General Surgery Residency Education
At Howard University Hospital, General Surgery Residency Education plays a pivotal role in the training our residents receive. Please peruse the "blue box" categories below to learn more information on this invaluable clinical experience.
The HUH General Surgery Residency Team Supports Residents With A Full Range Of Resources
Clinical Experience
The Howard University Hospital (HUH) General Surgery Residency Team made up of attending physicians manage all program-related functions and operations, including the support of program directors, coordinators, current and prospective residents with a full range of resources. Our dedicated team members are here to help in any capacity - both when you are applying to our program and while you are training at HUH. For more information, click on one of the GME Residency or Fellowship Program links below to contact the appropriate team member at your earliest convenience.
Training Hospitals
Howard University Hospital
The origin of Howard University Hospital dates back to 1862. Housed in converted army barracks, it was initially called Freedmen’s Hospital and provided a refuge where ex-slaves received the medical care they were denied elsewhere.
In the late 1860s, Freedmen’s formed a partnership with the Howard University College of Medicine to train African-American medical professionals. Together the medical school and the hospital have served as a training ground for many of the nation's top African-American physicians.
Over the course of its 160-year history of providing the finest primary, secondary and tertiary health care services, Howard University Hospital has become one of the most comprehensive health care facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and designated a DC Level 1 Trauma Center. It is our primary site for senior and junior residents offering a large volume of elective and emergency general surgery and trauma surgery cases along with surgical critical care experience and a broad spectrum of surgical specialty cases. The PGY1’s spend most of their intern year at this site. There are 4 services at this site with different team compliments. There is in-house call at this site.
University Of Maryland Capital Regional Medical Center
University of Maryland Capital Region (UM Capital) is a 312 bed hospital with more than 700 physicians and is the county’s only Level II trauma center. This center has a high volume of acute care surgery and provides complex trauma surgical experience. It is a rotating site for our senior and junior residents offering a large volume of elective and emergency general surgery and trauma surgery cases along with a broad spectrum of surgical specialty cases. The team consists of a PGY4, PGY3, PGY2 and PGY1. There is in-house call at this site.
Doctors Hospital
Doctors Community Hospital is an acute care and surgical hospital serving the Washington, DC area. The not-for-profit medical center admits 12,000 patients each year and has some 220 beds and offers standard and specialty services such as diagnostics, emergency and cardiac care, diagnostics, rehabilitation, wound care, and neurology. Comprising of 600 doctors, the hospital also includes a women's health center, a sleep therapy division, and the Joslin Diabetes Center. Doctors was established in 1975, and provides community health
services such as educational programs and support groups for specific medical condition. It is a rotating site for our senior and junior residents offering a large volume of elective and emergency general surgery cases along with a broad spectrum of surgical specialty cases. The team consists of a PGY5, PGY4, PGY3, PGY2, There is at-home call at this site.
Children's National Hospital
Children's National Hospital (formerly Children's National Health System, DC Children's Hospital, Children's National Medical Center) is a nationally ranked, freestanding, 323-bed, pediatric acute care children's hospital located in Washington D.C. It is affiliated with the Howard University College of Medicine. The hospital provides comprehensive pediatric specialties care to infants, children, teens, and young adults aged 0–21 throughout the region. The hospital features an ACS verified level I pediatric trauma center, the only one in the District of Columbia.
It is a rotating site for our PGY2’s offering a large volume of elective and emergency pediatric general surgery cases. There are rotating residents form other residency programs at this site. There is in-house call at this site.
Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center
Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center is a state-of-the-art, 198 bed facility that has served the Takoma Park and White Oak community for 115 years. This hospital is the first comprehensive cardiac center in Montgomery County and has provided the most advanced, least invasive heart care with skill, compassion and experience. It is a rotating site for our senior residents offering a large volume of elective and emergency general surgery cases along with a broad spectrum of surgical specialty cases. There is at-home OR call at this site.
Holy Cross Hospital
Holy Cross Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in Maryland. Founded in 1963 by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the hospital is a 449-bed, teaching facility caring for more than 36,000 inpatients each year.
Holy Cross Hospital is a rotating site for our senior residents offering a large volume of elective and emergency general surgery cases along with a broad spectrum of surgical specialty cases. There is no call at this site.
Memorial Sloan Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a 498 bed cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Memorial Sloan Cancer Center is ranked number 2 in cancer care in the nation. It is the rotating site for our PGY3 residents for complex surgical oncology experience. The program provides residents with accommodations near the hospital. There is in-house call at this site.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. The hospital occupies approximately 20 of the 60 buildings on the Johns Hopkins Medical Campus. The complex receives 80,000 visitors weekly. It houses over 1,000 beds and has a staff of over 1,700 doctors with over 30,000 total employees. It is the rotating site for our PGY3 residents for solid organ transplant experience. The program provides residents with accommodations near the hospital. There is bi-weekly in-house Friday call at this site.
The HUH General Surgery Residency Offers Residents An Abundance Of Training Programs
Conferences
The Surgery Grand Rounds is a weekly Monday morning conference that discusses the Morbidities and Mortalities that occurred the previous week. This forum explores the management details of specific surgical cases and evidenced based presentation on varies topics are also made. It is a forum for Faculty, residents, medical student, community surgeons and other healthcare professionals.
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This is an educational opportunity, as opposed to culpability. Our Surgery Grand Rounds and M & M conferences are aligned with the ACGME’s core competencies. Another positive aspect of this conference is that Faculty members involved in the care of the patients, as well as those with special expertise in specific content area actively participate. We not only use the traditional case-based knowledge and patient care, attendees are stimulated to reflect on details of process and system failures, where the essence of the systems-based practice and practice-based learning are captured. Ethical considerations are intertwined. Additionally, emphasis is placed on fostering a multidisciplinary collaborative approach towards safety and quality involvement:
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ME participation
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Conference, seminars, workshops and meetings
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Didactic Curriculum
Other Conferences
While rotating on a specialty surgical service (breast Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, transplant surgery etc.) residents will attend weekly educational and quality improvement conferences specific to each site and rotation.
Didicatics
This is a weekly Friday morning conference where faculty are selected to give a lecture to cover weekly SCORE curriculum topics. The curriculum covers all the material designated by the ABS. Additional topics include areas of professional development including leadership, healthcare and personal finances, wellness, and others. We strive towards a culture of true protected educational time. We are dedicated to giving our residents protected time and ample resources to prepare them for their boards.
Click the "Red Box" below to access a sample "Weekly Didactic Curriculum."
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Evening Absite Review & Mock Orals
This is a voluntary bi-weekly evening zoom session, organized by Dr. Gamal mostafa for the residency to cover core ABSITE topics in a question and answer format, discussing nuances of question reading and test taking tips and tricks. The latter half of the year is spent going over high yield mock oral sessions. These sessions are recorded and available for review throughout the year.
Clinical Scenarios
These are monthly evening sessions designed as mock oral scenarios for the junior residents, taken by Dr. Terrance Fullum. The focus of these sessions is on improving basic clinical judgment appropriate for the junior residents.
Journal Club
We offer monthly in person Journal Clubs at HUH main campus. Off site rotations have rotation specific journal clubs.
Resources provided for ABSITE Written board preparation
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True Learn Question bank
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SCORE online curriculum and question bank
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Access to SESAP 16 and 17
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Multiple Books available in our Surgical library and online
Resources provided for ORAL Board preparation
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Faculty led mock oral sessions in the second half of the year for the senior residents
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Osler Course
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Click the "Red Box" below to access a sample "Schedule of Academic Sessions."
Resident Rotations
Key: WOMC (White Oak Medical Center), ACS (Acute Care Surgery), MIS/CRS (Minimally Invasive & Colorectal Curgery), Lefall (Surgical Oncolocy, Plastics), CTVasc (Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery), HCGH (Holy Cross Germantown), UMDCRH (University of Maryland Capitol Region Health), DCH (Doctors Community Hospital), JHH (Johns Hopksins Hospital), MSKCC (Memorial Sloan Kettering), CNH (Children's National Hospital).
ACS SUR ONC MIS/CRS PLA. ST. ACS
PGYII
CH UM.D.CRH SICU ACS DHC MIS/CRS
PGYI
SICU/NF H&N GS/NF URO MIS/CRS SICU
PGYIII
DHC ACS UM.D.CRH JHH ACS
PGYIV
HCGH CTV.ASC WOMC UM.DCRH DCH UM.D.CRH
PGYV
WOMC ASC WOMC MIS/CRS LEFFALL
Surgical Simulation
The Howard University Health Sciences Simulation Center is a state-of-the-art simulation center, which houses an extensive skills and simulation curriculum for the Division of General Surgery's Residency Program PGY-1 through PGY-5 levels. Other post graduate disciplines also train in the HUHSSC as well, including OBGYN, Pulmonology/Critical Care, and Gastroenterology.
Debra Holly Ford, M.D. FACS, FCRS
Medical Director of Simulation Center
Christine Nembhard, M.D. FACS, FCRS
Simulations Curriculum Supervisor
General Surgery Skills Curriculum
Our 12-month General Surgery residency skills curriculum for PGY-1-5 includes various simulation experiences on a weekly basis during protected didactic time. Our program is built off of the American College of Surgeons (ACS)/Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS) skills curriculum. A sample curriculum can be found in the link below.
(sample curriculum)
Certification Programs offered include:
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Boot Camps for interns
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Advanced Trauma Life Support
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Advanced life Support
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Robotic surgery curriculum with certification
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Simulators available at the simulation center
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FLS exam box trainers
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Haptic feedback laparoscopic simulators
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Endosopic and bronchoscopic simulator
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DaVinci simulator
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Additional 24 hour access FLS box trainer is available in the General Surgery Residents Library at the Howard University Hospital Main Campus.
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Additional 24 hour access DaVinci Robot simulator is available in the General Surgery Residents Library at the Howard University Hospital Main Campus.
