Surgery Los Angeles Medical Center - Curriculum

Our categorical program is five years in duration. Preliminary tracks are also available. We follow the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) national curriculum for resident education in basic and clinical science. We provide Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery training, Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery training, and certification in our skills laboratory and Advanced Trauma Life Support through an affiliated institution. Clinical research–at least two completed projects over the five years–is a required element of the categorical program.

During the first two years, you will rotate through all of the services in our department and spend most of your time at our modern teaching hospital, a tertiary referral center for the region as well as the primary site for a diverse, densely populated urban setting.

Teams are at our program are smaller than in many other programs. A typical service consists of one to three attending surgeons and one to three residents. There is daily attending interaction on rounds, in clinic, and in the ORs. Emergency Acute Care Surgery is handled by daytime and nighttime resident teams that are supervised by faculty. Our interns and chief residents have a night float system, and our junior consult residents rotate through call. Elective teams are able to focus on their core interests. Schedules during the week include elective operating time as well as outpatient clinic for each team. 

Our interns are based at our primary setting, where they experience the full spectrum of surgery and its specialties while allowing them to assimilate into residency at a familiar place.

Off-site rotations in the second year take place at LAC+USC, KP West LA, and City of Hope, in addition to LAMC.

The third and fourth years are divided among general and laparoscopic surgery, pediatric surgery, peripheral vascular surgery, endocrine surgery, surgical oncology and thoracic surgery, with additional rotations in trauma, flexible endoscopy, and transplantation. You will be the most senior resident on your team for most of the third year and all of the fourth year, working closely with one or two attending physicians and a junior resident or intern.

As a chief resident, you will work more independently, yet still with appropriate faculty supervision, in general surgery, colorectal surgery, peripheral vascular surgery, endocrine surgery, and surgical oncology. A considerable portion of your time will be spent teaching junior residents and interns. Duty hours are restricted to 80 hours per week (averaged) as required by the ACGME and Residency Review Committee – Surgery.

Click on the link to review, Sample Surgery Rotation Schedule(PDF)