Department of Surgery
Surgical Education General Surgery Residency Program
It is the goal of the Monmouth Medical Center and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center combined surgical residency program to develop residents with clinical maturity, surgical judgment, technical skill and knowledge at the highest standards of our profession.
The General Surgery residency is structured to provide five years of general surgery training. There are four categorical residents per year plus six preliminary residents. The Residency is under the auspices of Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) Department of Surgery. The major affiliate of the program is Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (NBIMC).
At MMC, residents rotate through the General Surgery Team A and Subspeciality Team B which includes, vascular, thoracic, pediatric, urology, otolaryngology, plastic surgery and neurosurgery patients. At MMC, a PGY1 resident rotates through the ICU/ER. At NBIMC, in addition to general surgery, residents also rotate on a subspecialty service inclusive of vascular, pediatric, transplant, oncologic and cardiac surgery.
During the PGY2 year, there are also rotations at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) on various tumor services, and the Jersey Shore University Medical Center’s trauma service. Residents rotate about equally between MMC and NBIMC for the remainder of the five years.
We attain our mutual objectives by:
- Guiding the resident in basic biologic phenomena that constitute the foundation of surgical practice.
- Providing opportunities for direct and responsible patient management in the primary components of general surgery.
- Pioneering surgical technology. MMC was the first hospital in New Jersey to perform laparoscopic cholecystectomy and has launched a full array of advanced laparoscopic procedures. The Jacqueline M. Wilentz Comprehensive Breast Center is a multidisciplinary group that is recognized as one of the leading breast centers in the country. A protocol tested sentinel lymph node procedure was another first for the southern part of the state.
- Providing experience in specialties of vascular, pediatric, plastic and reconstructive, cardiothoracic, ENT, urologic, and neurologic surgery expecting the resident to become an effective teacher of medical students and junior residents and assume increasing administrative responsibility culminating in the final year as Chief Resident.
- Establishing and maintaining an atmosphere that encourages the open interchange of knowledge and experience. Televideo conferences occur between MMC and NBIMC residents for clinical research planning on Mondays, and core curriculum basic science review sessions on Thursdays.
- Promoting surgical research and national presentations and publications. Quality research is rewarded in a yearly paper competition. Any level resident may present high quality research at a national conference.
The PGY goals and objectives are explained relevant to each level. There are multiple interrelationships between the philosophical, clinical, technical and academic milestones. Also, there is an in-training examination each year and mock boards for the fourth and five years residents.
Some residents start out more advanced in one area, and others may gain knowledge faster. Many goals, therefore, may be reached earlier for some. Upon completion of the training program, the surgical resident becomes a surgeon qualified for further fellowship training, or general surgery practice. Residents who have applied for fellowships have obtained fellowships.
Many of our graduates return to enter practice in the area. Monmouth County is rated one of the top ten counties in the country because of its wonderful seaside lifestyle, excellent schools and proximity to cities.
We hope to foster an increasing competence in surgery matched with a passion for knowledge. Teachers are exhilarated by stimulating intellectual growth. Many of the surgeons feel that they could only practice in a teaching institution because of many of the factors described in the goals and objectives.
Residency and fellowship programs training at RWJBarnabas Health benefit from the resources and interprofessional opportunities available through the Rutgers Health institutional sponsorship. Learn more about all of the Rutgers Health sponsored graduate medical education programs on our sponsoring institution webpage.