General Surgery Residency Program

Surgical Training in Connecticut’s State-of-the-Art Medical Center

The Stamford Hospital/Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons program is an ACGME accredited site since 1958. 

We currently train 5 interns and 3 residents per year. Our program graduates three residents per year and accepts two preliminary residents. Graduates from our program have gone on to successful fellowships and careers.  Several have returned to Stamford Health as faculty and are now teaching residents.

Program Highlights

  • Wide variety of comprehensive training in general surgery and surgical subspecialties including bariatric, breast, colorectal, pediatric, plastic, thoracic, vascular, surgical oncology, trauma surgery and surgical critical care.
  • Center for Surgical Weight Loss and The Hernia Center with extensive experience with the DaVinci Robot.
  • No competing fellowships so the resident has full access to all surgical procedures.
  • Opportunities in head and neck surgery and urological oncology procedures as there are no competing residencies.
  • Surgical rotations at the Connecticut Burn Center in Bridgeport, the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, Transplant Surgery at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, and Trauma at University of Maryland Institute of Shock Trauma in Baltimore. Elective rotations in any surgical subspecialty during senior years are available.
  • Simulation Lab featuring FLS and FES training on the state-of-the-art GI Mentor.
  • Education and development of professional practice with high standards of surgical patient management in the preoperative, postoperative, emergency and critical care environments.
  • Many educational tools including TrueLearn, SCORE, ACS Fundamentals.
  • Direct access to the faculty with the ability to develop strong mentoring relationships.
  • Well established research department with unlimited opportunities for clinical research.
  • 100% acceptance into fellowships including programs at Johns Hopkins, Yale, Cook County,  New York University and the Mayo Clinic.
  • Graduating residents have reputation for being excellent clinicians with sound technical skills.

The new Stamford Hospital opened in 2016 and is the most advanced healthcare facility in lower Fairfield County.  The new hospital takes on a holistic approach to healing not just the body, but the mind and spirit with a calming patient-centered environment.

Take a close look at The Stamford Hospital/Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons General Surgery Residency. Find out why so many residents have enjoyed training in this highly supportive environment, and wish to return to the area after they have finished their excellent fellowships. If you join us, you will leave here as an extremely capable surgeon. 

Sincerely, 

Kevin Dwyer, MD, FACS
Medical Director, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care
Program Director, General Surgery Residency
Medical Student Clerkship Director

  • Program, Facility, & Training
  • Conferences & Other Opportunities

The five-year program educates surgeons in basic sciences while also providing an opportunity to develop cognitive and technical skills, clinical knowledge, and maturity in the acquisition of surgical judgment. The goal is the development of a true general surgeon, at ease in any situation. Because we don’t offer surgical fellowship programs, residents get a wide variety in experience and do rotations in other specialties such as:

  • Bariatric Surgery
  • Breast Surgery
  • Endocrine Surgery
  • Gastrointestinal Surgery
  • Laparoscopic Surgery
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Oncologic Surgery
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Trauma and Critical Care Surgery
  • Vascular Surgery
  • Orthopedic Surgery
  • Neurosurgery
  • Plastic Surgery

Specific training and certification includes:

  • Extensive minimally invasive surgery exposure and training
  • BLS (Basic Life Support) /ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) training
  • ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support) certification
  • FES (Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery) training
  • FLS (Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery) training
  • ATOM (Advanced Trauma Operative Management) Training

Stamford Hospital also offers surgery training on the Intuitive Xi, the newest edition of the DaVinci Robot.

Our operating facilities include:

  • Nine operating rooms on the main hospital campus, including a state-of-the-art hybrid operating room.
  • The high volume ambulatory surgery Tully Center with eight operating suites
  • A Level II Trauma Center
  • Endoscopy Center

Didactic Conferences:

The conference schedule is comprehensive with six protected time teaching conferences per week. Conferences on Thursday morning include Case Review, Morbidity and Mortality Conference and Surgical Grand Rounds. SCORE Curriculum Teaching Session is held on Friday morning. Complex Case Conference and ABSITE Review are held on Tuesday Morning. Journal Club is held monthly off-site. State-of-the-art conference facilities are provided.

Residents are invited to attend additional conferences including General Tumor Board, Breast Conference, Thoracic Oncology and Schwartz Rounds.

Additional Opportunities:

Residents obtain outpatient experience through the hospital's high-volume clinics and offices of private attending surgeons.

Opportunities for clinical research are encouraged and supported. The Stamford Hospital Director of Research supports the surgical residents with guidance. Residents have presented many papers at regional and national meetings and have won multiple competitions.
Ready To Apply?
All applications to the residency programs will be through AAMC's Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). No applications will be processed outside of ERAS. Please visit the ERAS site for further details. Please see specific requirements for each Residency Program before applying to ensure that you qualify.

Stamford Health's Department of Research and Discovery is an experienced, multi-faceted team that provides key assistance for many pharmaceutical and federally funded research trials.

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