Hey everyone,
Most discussions on this forum ranking surgical residency program's do so on the basis of name, research etc. I wanted to know what programs are good based on actual hands on experience. Meaning the amount of cases actually done. Any help would be great!
You are right that rankings generally have nothing to do with the actual hands on training that you get. For that you will need to go out and do your own research. Look for programs at high volume centers in inner city areas with a large population of uninsured patients and a VA. The dirty little secret of medical training is that residents get to do more on the uninsured. This has to do with the characteristics of the patient population, perceived risk to the attending, and other factors. The VA has traditionally been a great place for training, and often the residents get to run the service and cases with minimal attending intervention.
Ask around to current residents about programs with the best operative experience. Finally, when you are out on the interview trail, ask questions about the case numbers that residents get. Some programs will even mention as a selling point their case numbers and how they fit into the national percentiles for residents. Also ask the residents about double scrubbing and the operative experience you get as a junior and senior resident.
