General Surgery Residency Program

• Wish to pursue a career in general surgery

• Desire future training in a general surgery subspecialty

• Are considering pursuing an operational assignment such as Battalion or Brigade surgeon

The WAMC General Surgery Residency Program and Director comply with the criteria for resident eligibility as specified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the Womack Graduate Medical Education Institutional Resident Guidelines and U.S. Army standards. All residents are members of the U.S. Army.  We are not accepting civilian trainees at this time.

The General Surgery Residency Program is 60 months in duration.

The General Surgery Residency Program is approved to accept up to 2 residents each year.

The General Surgery Residency Program does not accept resident transfers from other programs once the academic year begins.

The Womack General Surgery Residency Program and institution educates residents and faculty members on the professional responsibilities of physicians to appear for duty appropriately rested and fit to provide services required by their patients. The residency program is committed to promoting patient safety and resident well-being in a supportive educational environment. 

Womack Army Medical Center is dedicated to training trauma-ready general surgeons; because of this, we encourage early operative exposure. The R1 year is a traditional surgical internship with rotations on general surgery, orthopedics, urology, ENT, Trauma, and SICU rotations.  The operative goal for surgical interns is to have completed a minimum of 100 cases by the end of the academic year.

The second clinical year builds upon the first with increased exposure within WAMC and rotations at our partner institutions, UNC and CMC. This year includes nine months of general surgery, trauma, pediatric surgery, and SICU rotations.

The third clinical year provides exposure to cases of increased complexity with rotations on hepatobiliary, cardiothoracic, and burn surgery.  Additionally, six months of the academic year are spent on the WAMC general surgery service with increasing responsibility and autonomy.

The PGY-4 rotations at Womack Army Medical Center provide an opportunity for the resident to assume senior-level responsibilities. The senior resident is the team leader and, therefore, responsible for the supervision of the residents and the overall care of the patient with continued staff oversight. The complexity of operative cases continues to increase, and the PGY-4 resident is expected to be aware of all aspects of his or her patient's condition and the proposed management plan.

The chief year is the final year of training and provides the residents with increasing responsibility and leadership roles. The chief resident is the primary surgeon for complex general and vascular procedures and is expected to be intimately involved in all aspects of the patient's care.  There is a two-month rotation at CMC as the trauma chief to finalize trauma training in anticipation of future deployments following graduation.