NYU Grossman School of Medicine provides surgical training to third- and fourth-year medical students through its surgery selectives. These one-month rotations provide in-depth learning experience in five selected surgical specialties:

• breast surgery
• endocrine surgery and surgical oncology
• pediatric surgery
• transplant surgery
• vascular surgery

Students may register for these courses after finishing their basic science curriculum; there are no prerequisite clinical clerkships.

In each selective, students receive training in new areas of surgical disease such as pathophysiology, advanced surgical diagnosis, operative management, challenges of postoperative management, and the biological basis and the interdisciplinary nature of surgical disease.

All students are expected to develop an in-depth understanding of each surgical specialty, relate the basic mechanisms of disease to clinical surgical practices, and describe the multidisciplinary approach to patient care.

Key Responsibilities

Key responsibilities during each selective include the following:

• caring for patients under the direct supervision of a senior resident
• understanding the pathophysiology of the disease process and its treatment from the medical, surgical, and biological bases
• preparing for rounds and the operating room (OR) by reading about diseases and procedures relevant to patients
• following up on patients’ laboratory studies, radiographic tests, and consulting with the senior resident
• writing all admission notes, brief operative reports, consult notes, and progress notes about patients
• evaluating surgical consults in the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine and on the hospital floors

Didactic Program

A majority of teaching during this clerkship occurs during rounds, clinics, office hours, and in the OR. Students collaborate with other clinical and basic science departments and are responsible for attending all resident teaching conferences. Students are expected to present on the biological basis of at least one case during a teaching conference.

Method of Evaluation

The following elements are factored into the evaluation:

• attendance record
• demonstration of ethical behavior and responsibility in the care of patients
• attending office hours or clinic at least once a week and the student’s participation in as many operative cases as possible
• evaluations by basic science faculty
• presentation about a basic science topic related to the student’s selective, during which they are expected to field questions related to the presentation
• evaluations by faculty and fellow students in the selective

In addition, the selective director provides guidance for career planning, as well as a performance evaluation based on the student’s clerkship and clinical and professional performance.

The total grade is an accumulation of evaluation scores which are weighted in the following manner:

• clinical faculty mentor evaluations: 30 percent
• resident evaluations: 30 percent
• basic scientist evaluations: 20 percent
• journal club presentations: 20 percent

Contact Us

For more information about the surgery selectives, contact Erica B. Friedman, MD, selective director, at 212-263-6378 or Erica.Friedman@NYULangone.org.