Combined Inpatient & Outpatient US Clinical Experience in General Surgery in Atlanta

Information about this clinical experience:

This rotation will be under the supervision of a board-certified general surgeon with years of experience educating U.S. medical students as well as international medical students and graduates. The physician holds staff appointments at hospitals within the Emory, Northside, and Wellstar Health Systems.

The center in which the surgeon works is a teaching site for medical students from Morehouse School of Medicine and Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Learners rotating with this physician will also have the opportunity to spend time with colleagues in the practice who also have extensive experience training and teaching students. This includes another surgeon as well as a PA specialized in surgery. 

This preceptor has received specialized training in advanced laparoscopy and bariatric surgery. Rotators will have the opportunity to see patients with a wide range of surgical problems, including diseases of the esophagus, stomach, and gallbladder, as well as patients referred to the center for surgical and nonsurgical weight management. Some of the minimally invasive surgeries this preceptor performs for weight loss include gastric bypass, laparoscopic sleeves, and endo sleeves.

Learners will gain knowledge of how prospective bariatric surgery patients are evaluated from a medical, surgical, psychological, and nutritional standpoint, and how obesity and its associated conditions impact patients and their families. The knowledge that you gain from this clinical experience will help you build a stronger foundation for your future residency and practice. “Students need to be exposed to the problems of obesity and its comorbidities…so that the residents of tomorrow will have a base for understanding this major threat to the wellbeing of Americans,” writes Dr. H. David Reines, Professor of Surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University. “To meet the future needs of the general surgeon, we need to train surgeons to care and operate in the fastest growing area of surgery – bariatric…Every resident, however, will need to know…how to care for the patient, what the metabolic preoperative and postoperative problems are, and most of all how to approach a bariatric patient who comes in for a problem related to surgery when no bariatric surgeon is around to give advice.”

After a few days of observation, you will take on an increasing role in patient encounters and learn the following under the preceptor’s supervision:

• Taking patient histories under supervision.

• Performing exams under the physician's supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Navigating the EMR (Athena EMR).

• Observing surgeries in the operating room.

• Researching the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.

• Spending time with other healthcare professionals to understand their roles and responsibilities.