Competency Areas Didactic Curriculum Training Sites

The two-year residency program includes teaching conferences oriented to the curriculum. It includes standardized readings and a review of surgical text, basic science, surgical decision-making, SCORE, AccessSurgery and the American College of Surgeons’ Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program. 

Core Conferences

Core conferences are held weekly for the department. Residents have a four-hour protected time block to attend core conferences each Thursday. Weekly core conferences consist of:

  • 7 to 8 a.m.: Morbidity and Mortality Conference (M&M)
  • 8 to 9 a.m.: Grand Rounds
  • 9 to 10 a.m.: Basic Science/Didactics
  • 10 to 11 a.m.: Resident Education (labs, Journal Clubs, pre-op rounds, lectures, town hall, etc.)

Additional Activities

In addition to core conferences, each division meets to discuss its specific patient assessments and education: 

  • Hepatobiliary Tumor Board: First Monday of each month from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
  • Transplant conference (includes Journal Club): Fourth Monday of each month from 4 to 6 p.m.
  • Breast conference: Second and fourth Tuesday of each month from 12 to 1 p.m.
  • Integrated GI/med/surg conference: First Wednesday of each month from 5 to 6 p.m.
  • Colorectal conference: Wednesdays, 7 to 8 a.m.
  • Vascular conference: Thursdays, 9 to 10 a.m.
  • Trauma/critical care conference: Wednesdays, 2 to 3:30 p.m.
  • Burn Journal Club: Second Tuesday of each month from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Training Sites

The program’s primary teaching site, UCI Medical Center, is an academic medical center and principal clinical facility for the School of Medicine’s teaching and research programs. The center’s services include medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, family medicine, pathology, radiology, ophthalmology, neurology, anesthesiology, and pain management and rehabilitation. The medical center has cardiac, neonatal, respiratory, burn and medical-surgical intensive care units. It is the designated countywide Level I tertiary trauma referral center.

Exterior shot of the UC Irvine Medical Center

UCI Medical Center is located in the city of Orange, and the university itself is nestled in Irvine (15 minutes away). The UCI Medical Center includes:

  • 424-bed tertiary referral center
  • ACS Level I Trauma Center and Burn Center
  • Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center (CDDC)
  • Comprehensive Cardiovascular Care Center (C4)
  • Aesthetic Institute and Beckman Laser Institute 
  • ACS Certified Surgical Skills Training Center
  • Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Skills Test Center (FLS)

Affiliate Training Sites

As part of our philosophy of training, the surgical residency includes exposure to all practice types (academic, private practice, VA and multispecialty HMO) with the below training sites: 

“I was first interested in the UCI Surgery Residency program because of the exposure to a diverse patient population and the program’s moderate size. Also, it is in a great location. After working here for three years, I now know the best part of UCI is the people. The residents, attendings, students and staff truly work as a team. We help each other, teach each other and support each other. This is unique and not something that can be found in most surgical residencies. The training is also excellent because we work at a university center, VA, Kaiser and a private practice hospital.”

“The most important part of our program is the diversity that it provides its residents. We are a university program that experiences opportunities at a multitude of different community programs. Our operating experience is diverse and extensive. We have the opportunity to operate with world experts, and at the same time we are able to experience the community surgeon’s point of view.”