General Surgery Residency

A Message from John Tarpley to the 2012-13 General Surgery Match Candidates

 July 2012

Thank you for visiting the Vanderbilt General Surgery web-site. 

We welcome your interest and inquiries. Please browse our site and check us out. Currently, 250 ACGME-approved programs for residency education in General Surgery are available to you. We are one of many excellent programs. Our program is research-oriented with an academic focus. Most of our residents enter Vanderbilt with an interest in possibly pursuing careers in "academic surgery" in one of its many iterations including basic science research, translational research, outcomes, health policy, education, or even global surgery.

Vanderbilt General Surgery is approved by the Surgical Residency Review Committee (S-RRC) to finish eight chief residents annually. Most but not all chiefs pursue fellowship training.

Vanderbilt has the tradition and reputation of training residents who can operate--not a "given" in this decade or earlier decades for that matter.  Of note our recently graduated chiefs averaged 1250 cases and vastly exceeded operative requirements in all important categories.

Research is encouraged. Most—but not all-- of our residents spend two years in research (very broadly defined). A funded PhD option is available. Thirteen of our current 52 categorical residents are on research assignments. Residents in research are encouraged to attend local, regional and national meetings and give presentations.

Vanderbilt is a superb university located on a beautiful campus comprising the undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools as well as the medical center. The medical center boasts a state-of-the-art plant, a new Children's Hospital, and a VA connected by a walkway. Rotations at St. Thomas are within three miles. The S-RRC approved our PGY IV elective in global surgery--Vanderbilt International Surgery (VIS).   Our first PGY IV began the first 4-week rotation July 2011 at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya an hour from Nairobi. Dr. Erik Hansen, a pediatric surgeon, is the Associate Program Director for our VIS program in Kijabe. (http://www.kijabehospital.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=2).

Vanderbilt and the VA are on the cutting edge of informatics and the electronic medical record. Eskind Biomedical Library has a collection of bibliographical materials and databases second to none.

 Vanderbilt is located in Nashville, Tennessee, a fantastic place to live!
http://www.visitmusiccity.com/members/aboutmusiccity;

 Our strength is our people. A collegial atmosphere exists between the attending surgeons, the departmental leadership, and the residents.  We work hard.  We support and help one another.

If Vanderbilt sounds appealing to you, forward your application to us.  Every applicant folder is carefully screened using a 55-point screening system involving letters, transcript, activities, research, USMLE scores, and awards. We generally receive applications from ~ 600 graduates of US medical schools and an equal number of international graduates. We interview ~ 80 folks; we match 8. We take your time and interest seriously.   

• We have 4 Saturday interviews scheduled for the Match season: December 8 & 15, 2012 and January 5 & 19, 2013.

• Each candidate is interviewed by two faculty members and a senior/chief resident and a short chat with a chair and the program director. Interview day includes a program presentation, a brief tour, and a luncheon that concludes by 2:30 pm; therefore candidates are free to depart mid-afternoon on Saturday. 

• We have an informal get-together from 6 to 8 pm on the Friday evening prior to the actual interview day, hosted on campus to permit those residents on call to attend.  Families and significant others are welcome.

• Grand Rounds are held on Friday mornings at 7am. All candidates are invited to attend Grand Rounds, Residents' Teaching Conference at 8 am if already in town, and then either join residents and see a day of regular work or check out Nashville prior to the 6 pm get-together. 

• One of our goals is for you to have free and ready access to our residents. We think they are "satisfied customers" and our best advertisement.

Our phone number is (615) 343-6642. 
Feel free to contact any of us in the Surgical Education Office.

For the Surgical Education Office,
John Tarpley, MD, aka "tarp"

SURGICAL EDUCATION FACULTY AND STAFF 

Coordinator: Stephanie Rowe Burnham     
stephanie.rowe@vanderbilt.edu

Department Education Assistant: Margaret Genendlis      
margaret.genendlis@vanderbilt.edu

Clerkship Coordinator: Nichole Perkins
nichole.a.perkins@vanderbilt.edu

Education Officer: Maggie Tarpley      
margaret.tarpley@vanderbilt.edu

Clerkship Director: Steven Eskind, MD
steven.eskind@vanderbilt.edu

Associate Program Director for Saint Thomas: R.S. Martin, III, MD       
rsmartin@stthomas.org

Associate Program Director for VIS: Erik Hansen, MD, MPH      
erik.hansen@vanderbilt.edu

Associate Program Director:  Kyla P. Terhune, MD
kyla.terhune@vanderbilt.edu

Program Director: John L. Tarpley, MD        
john.tarpley@vanderbilt.edu