General Surgery

The General Surgery Residency Program at Carolinas Medical Center is a five-year surgical training program, fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Our emphasis on education differentiates our medical center from other similar-sized, non-university hospitals. We have assembled a dedicated faculty (27 full-time and 20 clinical faculty) with surgical expertise in all the principal components of general surgery. The goal of our residency program is to prepare general surgeons to enter academic or clinical practice. Added qualification through additional fellowship training is encouraged.

Four categorical positions are available each year at the PGY-1 level. In addition, two preliminary positions are offered for physicians planning to enter training in specialties other than general surgery, such as orthopedic surgery, urology or ENT.

Our program has five surgical services which include three general surgery services, a pediatric surgery service and a trauma surgery service. Each general surgery service has a PGY-5 resident as chief with a faculty member attending each month. The trauma surgery service has a PGY-4 resident as chief and is attended by a faculty member with expertise in trauma and surgical critical care. Trauma surgery attending physicians are in-house 24-hours a day and general surgery faculty are readily available on call.

Carolinas Laparoscopic and Advanced Surgery Program
Training in both basic and advanced laparoscopic procedures is an integral part of the General Surgery Residency Program. Surgical endoscopy is emphasized throughout the entire residency training with ample experience at each level, including flexible sigmoidoscopy, EGD, colonoscopy and therapeutic endoscopy.

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Carolinas Medical Center
Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) is an 861-bed tertiary care medical center and Level I trauma center, the nucleus of an integrated medical care network that supports a population of more than one million persons. In addition, this hospital is the hub of an extensive regional primary care physician network called Carolinas Physicians Network. This balance provides a large volume and variety of experience ranging from simple to the most complex surgical problems.

CMC supports a number of specialty clinical centers including the Blumenthal Cancer Center, The Carolinas Heart Institute, The Transplant Center, and The Women's Institute.

The Blumenthal Cancer Center, founded in 1989 and named a Teaching Hospital Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, brings together teams of specialized caregivers in a spacious 20,000-square-foot facility opened in 1995. General surgery faculty physicians direct the Melanoma Care Program, the Immunotherapy Program, the GI Tumor Program, and the Breast Health Center at Blumenthal Cancer Center and are an integral part of many other cancer center programs. These programs provide oncology experience for residents in the general surgery program.

The Transplant Center includes renal transplant, liver transplant, and kidney/ pancreas transplant programs. These programs are also directed by members of the general surgery faculty and provide extensive transplant experience for surgery residents.

Cannon Research Center
The James G. Cannon Research Center, located on the Carolinas Medical Center campus, is a 58,000-square-foot research facility, unique for non-university hospitals. Dedicated in 1992, it houses basic science research laboratories and an accredited vivarium. Clinical and bench research are a part of our educational process. One resident from each incoming class is selected to spend an additional year in the laboratory as a research fellow. This research year generally follows the PGY-2 year.