Message from
Major Kenneth Lee, IV, MD, PhD - Program Director
Penn Surgery is committed to excellence and leadership. The faculty educate and mentor trainees exploring careers in a wide variety of surgical disciplines. We aim to maximize the technical, clinical, and research abilities of our trainees to equip them with the tools to provide high-quality clinical care, to innovate, and to become future leaders. With the clinical productivity and the unique resources at the teaching hospitals, the Perelman School of Medicine, and the University of Pennsylvania, we offer unparalleled opportunity.
Major Kenneth Lee, IV, MD, PhD
Program Director, General Surgery Residency
Associate Professor of Clinical Surgery
Penn Surgery Intranet (internal use only)
The training program in General Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania has a long-standing tradition in excellence. We continually strive to create an educational environment that maximizes the surgical trainees' academic potential. Our goal has been and continues to be the training of future leaders in academic surgery.
Residents are an integral part of the surgical health care team which includes Faculty, specialty residents and fellows, senior and junior general surgery residents and medical students. Educational advantages such as didactic training and investigative insight accrue from interaction with all members of the surgical service team. Medical students are assigned to all rotations throughout the school year and residents are the key influence in their educational experience.
The training of general surgeons encompasses education in basic sciences, training in cognitive and technical skills, development of clinical knowledge and maturity, and acquisition of surgical judgment. Our program provides the opportunity for residents to learn in depth the fundamentals of basic science as applied to clinical surgery. The program provides experience in preoperative, operative and postoperative care for patients in all areas of general surgery. The goals of our surgical residency program are to prepare the resident to function as a qualified practitioner of surgery at the high level of performance expected of a board-certified specialist. Residents are provided adequate time and sufficient facilities for study.
Operative skill is essential for the surgeon and can be acquired only through personal experience and training. The program provides for sufficient operative experience to train qualified surgeons, taking into account individual capability and rate of progress. Graduate education in surgery requires a commitment to continuity of patient care.
The establishment of an inquiring and scholarly environment is the primary responsibility of the teaching staff. Only in such a milieu can residents develop the facility for critical analysis and further growth potential requisite for a lifetime of self-education after the completion of formal residency training. The teaching staff is well qualified to create and maintain such an environment and has sufficient diversity that all facets of surgery are represented. They have diverse expertise and demonstrate interest and ability in teaching, are willing to devote the necessary time and effort to the educational program, and permit residents to participate actively in the management of patients under their care.
The attending physician has both an ethical and legal responsibility for the overall care of the individual patient and for the supervision of the resident involved in the care of that patient. Although they require less direction than junior residents, even the most senior residents are supervised. A chain of command that emphasizes graded authority and increasing responsibility as experience is gained is established. Judgments on this delegation of responsibility are made by the attending surgeon who is ultimately responsible for a patient's care; they are based on his/her direct observation and knowledge of each resident's skills and ability. Proper supervision does not conflict with progressively more independent decision making on the part of the resident; thus, the degree of supervision may vary with the clinical circumstances and the training level of the resident.
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania is the parent institution of the General Surgery Residency Training Program where residents spend 70% of their training time. The remaining 30% of training occurs at integrated and affiliated institutions selected for special educational experiences. Participating integrated hospitals include the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center (two blocks from HUP), Presbyterian Medical Center (nine blocks from HUP, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (next door to HUP), Pennsylvania Hospital (<1 mile from HUP).
In considering the selection of an academic surgical training program, the most critical elements include operative experience, research and educational opportunities, and the ultimate career paths of the graduating chief residents. In all three of these areas the Penn Surgical Program has excelled. As a direct result we have continued to attract an extraordinarily diverse and outstanding applicant pool, compiled of individuals clearly intending to pursue careers in academic surgery.
The primary operative experience in our training program is derived from rotations in the principal components of general surgery, of which 80% or more occur at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Experience in the Gastrointestinal Surgical Service occurs under the direction of Charles M. Vollmer, Chief of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Ronald P. DeMatteo, Chair, Department of Surgery. Here residents are exposed to perhaps one of the busiest and most complex group of patients with a wide variety of gastrointestinal disorders, both benign and malignant. A broad exposure is gained in esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic lesions, as well as other important gastrointestinal tract pathology. Our program is committed to the training and development of outstanding surgical clinicians who are qualified to practice in an independent fashion. Accordingly, experience on a resident’s general surgical service is also provided, which allows a broad exposure to emergency consultations within the hospital and through the emergency room simulation.
The growth of new interventional techniques has expanded the scope of the Vascular Surgical Service, and extensive exposure is provided for trainees here. The Trauma Service at Penn is an important component to the core teaching program, providing experience in both blunt and penetrating trauma, as well as extensive teaching in the management of multi-system critically ill patients.
A broad general surgical experience is supplemented at the hospital’s principal affiliates, which includes rotations at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Presbyterian Medical Center, and Pennsylvania Hospital.
In addition to the principal components of general surgery, there is extensive exposure to the surgical specialties. Selected examples include rotations through the Cardiac Surgical Service, with an outstanding experience in cardiac intensive care. The Thoracic Surgical Service residents gain substantial experience in pulmonary resections and other thoracic disorders. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is considered by many to be the top pediatric institution in the country. Under the direction of Dr. Michael Nance, Chief of Pediatric Surgery and an internationally recognized expert in emergency trauma care, residents have the opportunity to rotate through this extraordinarily unique experience.
Finally, the long-standing interest in Transplantation Surgery at Penn, under the direction of Dr. Kim Olthoff, has provided a strong clinical exposure in the areas of hepatic, renal, and pancreatic transplantation.
As a result of this extraordinarily broad-based clinical experience, the surgical residents at Penn frequently will rank at the 90th percentile on the most complex cases including, but not limited to esophagectomy, gastrectomy, ileo-anal pull-through reconstruction, hepatic resection, biliary reconstruction, pancreatoduodenectomy, parathyroidectomy, adrenalectomy, pulmonary lobectomy, and renal transplantation.
An academic training program must provide an environment that maximizes the educational and research opportunities for the trainee. The Measey Surgical Skills Suite provides such a unique educational milieu designed specifically for the surgical housestaff. In addition, a wide range of conferences are available to the residents specific to the given services, as well as a weekly Morbidity and Mortality conference and a monthly Grand Rounds conference.
It is the very nature of our program that attracts individuals with an intense commitment to surgical research. Virtually all of our surgical trainees will participate in 2-3 years of research, generally after the third clinical year, under the direct mentorship of one our surgical faculty. The department exists in an extremely research oriented environment as the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania received $814 Million in Annual Sponsored Research in the year 2020. It should come as no surprise that the Department of Surgery offers a wide range of research opportunities. Our residents frequently develop important contacts with prospective role models early in their training and are given the opportunity to participate in the application process for funding their surgical research projects.
Educational Support
Ultimately a program is best judged by the career paths of its graduates. Over the last 7 years the overwhelming majority of graduates from Penn have pursued fellowship training in outstanding training programs representing a wide range of disciplines including:
- Surgical Oncology (n = 10)
- Cardiothoracic Surgery (n = 9)
- Vascular Surgery (n = 8)
- Colon and Rectal Surgery (n = 5)
- Pediatric Surgery (n = 4)
- Surgical Critical Care/Trauma (n = 4)
- Transplantation Surgery (n = 4)
- General Surgery (n = 2)
- Breast Surgery (n = 1)
- Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery (n = 1)
- Minimally Invasive Surgery (n = 1)
- Plastic Surgery (n = 1)
Through constant interaction with members of the School of Medicine Faculty in frequent unit conferences, intra-operative teaching, daily service rounds, weekly grand rounds and management conferences, housestaff receive broad and intensive experience in the art and science of surgery. The weekly Basic Science Course provides a valuable didactic forum to review the fundamentals of current surgical science and Surgical Grand Rounds provides updates focused on the leading edge of knowledge in surgery. The Penn Medical Center and Health Systems Network, through its diversified Faculty and substantial facilities integrates research, teaching and clinical practice. This vast resource, which includes the School of Medicine, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Clinical Practices of the University of Pennsylvania, provides an outstanding educational environment for the surgeon in training.