Surgery Residency Program Overview

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Accreditation News:  2/25/2008 - The ACGME Emergency Medicine Residency Review Committee has approved a new Emergency Medicine Residency for the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga.  The first residents (6 at the PGY-1 level) will begin training on July 1, 2008.  Click here to read more.

Accreditation Update:  In April 2006, the Surgery Residency Review Committee (RRC) awarded both the Surgery Residency and the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship "Continued Accreditation Status."  Both programs received the maximum accreditation cycles (# of years between site visits) -- five years. 

32 Total Positions in the Surgery Residency:

• Four Categorical Surgery positions at each level, leading to board eligibility in general surgery

• Eight Preliminary Surgery positions for pre-requisite training for subspecialties such as otolaryngology, neurosurgery, and urology.
      - Six first year Preliminary Surgery positions
      - Two second year Preliminary Surgery positions

This dynamic program is sponsored by the largest department at the UT College of Medicine Chattanooga.  The Department of Surgery is led by R. Phillip Burns, MD, Professor and Chair of the Department, as well as President of two nationally renowned organizations:  Southeastern Surgical Congress and the Southern Surgical Association.  Dr. Burns is also an immediate past member of the national Surgery Residency Review Committee that accredits surgery training programs across the country.  Dr. Burns has been Chair of the program for 31 years -- since the early affiliation between Erlanger Medical Center and the University of Tennessee in 1976.

The Surgery Residency Program Director is Joseph B. Cofer, MD, who recently completed a year as the President of the National Association of Program Directors in Surgery.  Dr. Cofer is fellowship trained in transplant surgery and founder of the first Liver Transplant Program at the Medical University of South Carolina.  He is well-recognized leader for revising surgical curriculum across the country.

Michael Greer, MD, is the Surgery Clerkship Director for medical student education within the department.

The Surgery Residency Program in Chattanooga provides outstanding educational opportunities for general surgery and surgery subspecialty training. Our residency is a six-year program consisting of five years in clinical training and one year in clinical research. Residents are assigned to required research rotations in three four-month segments during the PGY-2, PGY-3, and PGY-4 levels of training. Sixty practicing physicians serve as members of the faculty, 31 of whom are full-time, hospital-based.

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Residents completing our program have a successful pass rate on the certification examination of the American Board of Surgery. Our graduates are truly "general surgeons" with a breadth of experience enabling them to successfully enter surgical practice or compete for nationally recognized fellowships.  Our residents are prepared for any surgery career path.

Our rotations are primarily  "under one roof" and there is daily exposure and involvement with the Department Chair, Residency Program Director, and other faculty. The majority of clinical training takes place within the main Erlanger campus, but we also provide a  three-month rotation in rural general surgery for each PGY-3 level resident.  The resident works one-on-one with three faculty members practicing in rural settings within Tennessee.  These faculty are graduates of our program and offer residents private practice experience in both their offices and with hospital patients at rural hospitals in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, located within an hour from Chattanooga.

Training is quite comprehensive, encompassing all areas general surgery and related subspecialties.  Because of its Level I Trauma Center designation, the hospital's helicopter transport service, the kidney transplant program, and reputation as the tertiary care center for the Southeast Tennessee Region, Erlanger's average hospital census is high.  Each year approximately 18,000 operative procedures are performed.  Surgery residents are involved in door-to-door care of approximately 90% of all patients admitted to the General Surgery, Thoracic, and Vascular Services.  Surgery residents also manage otolaryngology and urology patients.

In keeping pace with new techniques and knowledge, our aggressive conference schedule and visiting professor program enrich the basic curriculum. Funding is provided to send Categorical Surgery residents to outside conferences such as the Spring and Fall Meeting of the American College of Surgeons, Southern Surgical Association, Southeastern Surgical Congress, and Southern Vascular Conference. Time to attend conferences is given in addition to vacation and holidays. The night call schedule for Surgery residents is usually every third night.

The Skills Lab is a tremendous asset to our program and is a facility in which residents can practice surgical skills in a more relaxed, less critical environment than an actual hospital operating room. This benefits junior residents by allowing them to develop technical skills outside their day-to-day clinical experience. The lab has been renovated over the past six months and is re-opening for full capacity and services as of February 2007.  We are excited about this impressive facility and feel that it greatly adds to our educational opportunities. 

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Surgical Critical Care Fellowship 

The Department of Surgery now sponsors a one-year accredited fellowship in Surgical Critical Care.  Dr. Robert Maxwell is the Fellowship Director.  The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education approved the program effective January 1, 2003, for up to two fellows each year.  Our Fellows thus far:

Ben Dart, MD (January - December 2003)
Jimmy Waldrop, MD (January - December 2004)
John Green, MD (January - December 2005)
Amy Hildreth, MD (January - December 2006)
William Havron, MD (Current Fellow, January - December 2007)

The fellowship program requires that fellows must have completed a minimum of three years in a Surgery Residency prior to entering our one-year fellowship program.  Applications are handled via the NRMP Vascular Specialty Match.  Contact Cindy Schultz, Surgery Program Manager, at Cindy.Schultz@erlanger.org for questions.

Vascular Surgery Fellowship 

The Department of Surgery received accreditation to begin a two-year fellowship in Vascular Surgery with one fellow at each level as of July 2008.  Dr. L. Richard Sprouse is the Fellowship Director.  The fellowship program requires that fellows must have completed a five-year Surgery Residency prior to entering the two-year fellowship.  Interested applicants may contact Cindy Schultz, Surgery Program Manager, at Cindy.Schultz@erlanger.org., or by phone (423) 778-7695.  Interviews are being conducted during Fall 2007 for the July 2008 position.

Emergency Medicine Residency 

NEWS - 2/25/2008:  Dr. David Seaberg, Dean of the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga, announced today that the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has approved an Emergency Medicine Residency training program on the Chattanooga campus.  The three-year residency will train six residents per year at the Baroness Erlanger Campus.  The program will be the first Emergency Medicine Residency Program within the University of Tennessee Health Science Center System, which consists of campuses in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga.   The Emergency Medicine Residency will be led by Drs. James Creel and Anuj Parikh and will start its first class this July.  Initially the program will be sponsored by the Department of Surgery, chaired by Dr. R. Phillip Burns. 

Applicants interested in the program should contact the Emergency Medicine Residency Office by phone (423) 778-7628 or by email (Velvet.Green@erlanger.org ).   Due to the timing of the accreditation decision, we will not be able to participate in the Match or ERAS for the July 2008 class.

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