Boston University Medical Campus
Surgery

Boston Medical Center is a clinical unit of approximately 630 beds. Boston University School of Medicine faculty, in collaboration with faculty from the Harvard Medical School, are responsible for the nearby Boston VA Medical Center, a 350-bed facility.

During their surgical training, residents in the Program have an opportunity to work in two community hospitals affiliated with the School of Medicine. Residents thus benefit from the educational experiences unique to a major urban referral center specializing in trauma and ambulatory care, a strong Veterans Administration Medical Center, and the surgical practices in the two community hospitals. The affiliated institutions are the Cape Cod Medical Center and Quincy Medical Center. These community hospitals provide surgical residents with a broad and varied clinical exposure and add significant strength to the residency in general surgery.

Supervision is provided by an attending staff with clinical and surgical expertise in every major area. At the completion of the Program, each graduate has performed an average of 900-1,100 operative cases as surgeon and additional cases as assistant. Chief residents routinely perform an average of 230 operative cases in their final year. In addition to developing surgical and intellectual skills, the Surgical Residency Program provides close supervision and consultation for all residents to assist them in planning a surgical career, either as a general surgeon or as a specialist.

The Program recognizes the importance of surgical preparation for the certifying and qualifying examinations of the American Board of Surgery. An effort is made to introduce Board examination techniques to the resident as surgical judgment and technical skills are developed. Clinical research, as a method for developing the appropriate approach to clinical problems, is expected from all residents. Basic research also is available and encouraged for those who are interested in adding this expertise to their academic development. Such basic research takes place in settings separate from the clinical activity.

Boston Medical Center is an active member of the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, an organization that brings together the expertise and experience of the 17 teaching hospitals in the city of Boston. These hospitals and medical centers comprise what is referred to as “one of the greatest medical communities in the world.” As a resident at Boston Medical Center, you will become an active participant in this unique medical community.

Boston Medical Center has implemented a web-based Residency Management system called New Innovations, via which the residency program performs evaluations. At the end of each rotation, Faculty members evaluate residents. At this time, residents also complete evaluations of the rotation as well as the Faculty members attending on that service.

Led by Dr. Lily Chang, our Laparoscopic Simulation Lab opened in early 2005. Our lab provides residents with access to laparoscopic simulators and a web-based surgical video library.