Inpatient/Outpatient US Clinical Experience in General Surgery in Houston in Houston

Information about this clinical experience:

This is an inpatient and outpatient experience during which you will be under the supervision of a physician who is board-certified in general surgery with over a decade of experience practicing surgery and teaching medical students. The preceptor completed training in general surgery and bariatric surgery at two of America’s top hospitals. The physician is on staff at hospitals within the St. Luke’s Health and HCA Healthcare Hospital Systems.

As an international medical graduate, the doctor recalls many challenges experienced during the road to residency. One major challenge was taking part in clinical experiences in which students were not well integrated into the team. Having seen how this can impact learning, the preceptor has been invested in creating an immersive rotation experience for rotators where there are rich opportunities to learn. Rotators can make the most of these experiences by showing interest, participating, asking questions, keeping up with their outside reading, and bringing enthusiasm and a positive attitude.

You can expect to go to the operating room usually two days of the week. One of these days will be spent at a hospital where you will encounter “day cases” where the patient will go home the same day as the procedure. These will be patients who are otherwise healthy or with stable comorbidities who require surgery for non-emergent conditions. On the other day, you will go to a hospital where your time in the operating room will be spent with more complex cases that may require hospital admission following the surgery.

The remaining days of the week will be spent in the outpatient clinic where you will encounter patients referred to the clinic by other providers for elective surgery or for follow-up after surgery. You will learn how general surgeons explain procedures, address potential risks and benefits, and manage expectations regarding recovery. For postoperative visits, you will be able to take note of the patient’s recovery progress, identify any potential complications, and address any concerns. The patients you see in the clinic and the cases you see in the operating room will be a mix of patients with typical problems seen in both general surgery and bariatric surgery.

During your experience, you will learn the following U.S. medical practices under the preceptor’s supervision:

• Taking patient histories.

• Performing physical exams under the physician's supervision.

• Presenting patients.

• Observing a variety of surgeries in the operating room (please note that scrubbing in is permitted).

• Have opportunities to research the literature to answer clinical questions at the point of care.

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

As a result of hospital policies, inpatient activities will be more observational.