Educational Curriculum and Conferences
The Department of Surgery and associated Specialty Divisions engage in weekly conferences focused on resident education, quality of care and evidence-based review of selected cases. These are listed below divided by specialty and hospital location.
In addition, the department has recently developed a website which includes a variety of resources including educational films of procedures and powerpoint presentations. (Examples of these will be available on this website in the near future).
Finally, the resources of the Minimal Access Surgery Center, including laparoscopic skills testing, laparoscopic computer simulators and an endoscopy simulator are available to the house staff 24 hours per day.
Columbia Presbyterian Department of Surgery
Department of Surgery Grand Rounds
Held once per month, on the first Thursday of the month. Guest lecturers are invited to speak on a variety of topics from colorectal surgery to thyroid surgery, transplantation, anesthesia, and as well as the history of medicine. Past speakers have included major contemporary figures in surgical history, department heads, and significant contributors to the advancement of surgical education and science.
Morbidity & Mortality Conference
Morbidity and Mortality conference, occurring on Thursday mornings 2-3 times a month, is an active forum for review of complications. Selected cases are presented by residents for systematic review and debate by Faculty and Housestaff, and include a review of literature and of current practices both within the Department and throughout the country.
Standards of Care Conference
Occurring once a month on Thursday morning, surgical housestaff present a systematic review of the literature and practices for a given surgical disease. A half hour presentation is followed by a moderated discussion between faculty and housestaff. In the past this session has served to stimulate new clinical research activities, some of which are ongoing.
Thomas C. King Teaching Conference
Wednesday morning is dedicated to resident education. Led by senior housestaff and moderated by faculty, this conference serves to actively review the spectrum of General Surgery and Specialty Surgery diseases in order to prepare housestaff for in service examinations. Readings are assigned on a weekly basis with accompanying questions. A dedicated review session is also included at the end of the calendar year for comprehensive review, leading up to the in service examination. The schedule for this fall can be viewed here.
MASS
Each quarter, the entire Department convenes for a presentation by each division resident chief. Major case numbers are listed along with their complication rates. Complications are presented with accompanying national rates and the internal cumulative rates. This serves as a major tool in quality control. The MASS data are also presented alongside a prospective ongoing clinical quality control trial.
Specialty Services
Hepatobiliary Surgery
Thursdays are academic days on the Red Surgery service. In the late morning, all residents and attendings are present at a multidisciplinary conference (Surgery, GI, Oncology, Radiology) where pancreatic/biliary cases are presented and management is discussed. At lunch, the team gathers for an informal case presentation by one of the junior residents. A discussion of the diagnostic workup and appropriate treatment is moderated by one of the attendings. Walk rounds with attendings are standard on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
Colorectal Surgery
Residents on the Colorectal service attend a weekly Tuesday AM videoconference, conducted jointly with the Cornell-Weill Campus. At this conference, M&M is performed, case presentations are held, and various topics in colorectal surgery are presented. In addition, a weekly Friday morning walk rounds session is held with all residents and all attendings on the service.
Vascular Surgery
Residents rotating through the Vascular Surgery service participate in Tuesday Morning vascular conference. The conference is divided into a review of recent complications and/or major cases, and multi-disciplinary interventional radiology procedures. Formal presentations are occasionally given on evolving modalities. Multidisciplinary review of angiography is conducted with Interventional Radiologists.
Minimal Access Surgery Conference
The Minimal Access division comprises the two campuses of Columbia and Cornell, meeting each Friday morning via video teleconference at both campuses. The discussion includes current developments in minimal access surgery, complications, techniques and standards of care. Residents on the Upper GI and Colorectal services participate.
Surgical Oncology
This interdisciplinary conference meets each Monday morning to discuss current and recent oncology cases ranging from malignant melanoma, to bone marrow transplantation and breast tumors. Advanced topics are discussed including genetic testing, adjunctive and neoadjuvant therapies, gene and vaccine therapy as well as the sociological aspects of cancer. Residents rotating through the Upper GI (Red) Surgery service are involved in the care of patients undergoing breast surgery, thyroid and parathyroid surgery, as well as surgery and chemotherapy for malignant melanoma, and attend this conference.
Breast Surgery
The Resident organized lectures occur Monday afternoons following Breast clinic. This lecture series invites attending surgeons, nurse practitioners, radiation oncologists, and breast radiologists to discuss various aspects of benign and malignant breast disease. The residents on the Red Surgery Service and others are invited to participate.
Renal Transplantation
This multi-disciplinary conference occurs Wednesday mornings with a dual focus. First on reviewing recent and in-house renal transplant cases, and second a thorough review of the renal transplant waiting list. New renal transplant evaluations are presented with a comprehensive medical-psycho-social review. Candidates include both those requesting cadaveric as well as living donation.
Liver Transplantation
In a similar fashion to the renal transplant conference, a multi-disciplinary team reviews candidates that are high on the transplant waiting list, the current in-patient transplants as well as complications. Additionally, housestaff are provided with a supplementary reading list, and Liver Transplant Housestaff manual, which provide thorough guidelines detailing both common and uncommon liver diseases, their management, indications for transplantation and differences in their post-transplant management. Daily afternoon multidisciplinary walking rounds incorporate active academic discussion, while a friday afternoon pathology session concludes with gross and microscopic review of liver pathology of recent explants and biopsies.
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Residents on the Cardiac surgery rotation attend weekly Thursday morning conferences on cardiac and thoracic surgery which are focused on a review of complications and discussions on recent advances and changing standards of care. Additionally, a cardiac transplant conference on friday mornings reviews the cardiac transplant waiting list as well as new transplant evaluations, and selected patient follow-up.
Multidisciplinary Endocrine Conference
Residents on the endocrine surgery service and other interested residents are invited to attend this conference which is held in conjunction with the Department of Medicine. Difficult cases are presented with discussion regarding appropriate management following.
Allen Pavilion
Residents rotating through the general surgery service at this community hospital convene on Wednesday afternoons to discuss both recent complications, and interesting case presentations by both junior residents and medical students.
Overlook Hospital
Residents rotating at this community hospital in New Jersey actively participate in multiple weekly conferences including Tuesday morning didactics with the Department Head, Dr. Paul Starker, Wednesday morning conferences which cycle between General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Tumor Board, and Breast Surgery. Thursdays mornings, in parallel with the Wednesday morning conferences at CPMC, are dedicated to the Thomas C. King lecture series, and review of questions.
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