General Surgery Residency Courses

The AHA BLS course trains participants to promptly recognize several life-threatening emergencies, give high-quality chest compressions, deliver appropriate ventilations and provide early use of an AED. In the Instructor-led course, students participate in simulated clinical scenarios and learning stations. The AHA ACLS course builds on that knowledge to enhance the resident’s skills in treating adult victims of cardiac arrest or other cardiopulmonary emergencies; the course uses a web-based, self-paced instructional program and eSimulation technology to allow students to assess and treat patients in virtual healthcare settings and apply their knowledge to real-time decision making and skills development. After completing the cognitive portion of the course, students practice and test their skills with an AHA Instructor or on a voice-assisted manikin (VAM) system, and assess their knowledge in written and practical tests. The Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) uses a series of videos and simulated pediatric emergencies to reinforce the important concepts of a systematic approach to pediatric assessment, basic life support, PALS treatment algorithms, effective resuscitation, and team dynamics.

The Advanced Trauma Life Support® (ATLS®) teaches the residents a systematic, concise approach to the care of a trauma patient, and provides learners safe and reliable methods for immediate management of injured patients. The course teaches how to assess a patient’s condition, resuscitate and stabilize the patient, and determine if the patient's needs exceed a facility’s capacity. It also covers how to arrange for a patient’s inter-hospital transfer and assure that optimum care is provided throughout the process.

Starting FAU surgery residents will be provided with access to the course before starting their Internship. The ACS FSC is a highly interactive, case-based, online curriculum that addresses the essential content areas that all surgical residents need to master in the early years of training; the curriculum includes more than 110 simulated case scenarios helping new the surgery resident to recognize and assess signs and symptoms of important disease processes and patient care problems they will encounter in their day-to-day practice, order appropriate tests and procedures, evaluate key data, and initiate appropriate therapeutic actions. The course builds learner confidence within the safety of a virtual environment, emphasizes critical thinking skills and enables first year surgical residents to manage surgical patients using a systematic approach and make appropriate decisions about involving other team members [notifying more senior residents, attending surgeons, or other health care professionals] or implementing independent decisions.

The CRIT program provides focused, case-based training in geriatrics principles to chief residents. Developed at Boston University/Boston Medical Center the program is designed to foster institutional collaboration among disciplines to improve care coordination and quality for hospitalized, at-risk older adults, and to develop chief residents’ teaching and leadership skills with an emphasis on medically complex older patients. The intensive 2-day program participants include both Chief Residents and faculty responsible for residency training in surgical and medical specialties and focuses on: 1) incorporating geriatrics principles into teaching and administrative roles; 2) developing chief resident teaching and leadership skills with a focus on the care of complex older patients; 3) enhancing Chief Residents’ abilities to collaborate with other disciplines in the management of complex older patients; and 4) developing an achievable action project focused on a geriatrics care issue that the Chief Resident will carry out during his/her Chief Residency year.

The Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM®) course is an effective method to increase residents’ surgical competence and confidence in the operative management of penetrating injuries to the chest and abdomen. Originally developed by Lenworth Jacobs at the University of Connecticut School and Medicine and Hartford Hospital Trauma Program, the program focuses on interactive exchange of knowledge and skills regarding operative procedures in the management of trauma between expert teachers and residents. Residents get to describe and explain proper decision making, operative techniques and alternatives for dealing with complex injury. At the completion of the course, the resident will be able to demonstrate: 1) increased self-efficacy in the management of traumatic injuries; 2) increased knowledge in the management of penetrating injuries; and 3) the ability to successfully and safely perform all operative procedures presented in the course.

The Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET™) course uses human cadavers to teach our residents about effective surgical exposure of anatomic structures that, when injured, may pose a threat to life or limb. The course covers surgical exposures in these key areas: neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis, and upper/lower extremities. Each section, beginning with a case-based overview, followed by a hands-on exposure guided by the faculty. The resident-to-faculty ratio is low, allowing extensive faculty guidance and interaction. Each resident will assess his or her ability to perform each exposure independently, and is evaluated on knowledge and technical skills. At the end of the course the resident will be able to: 1) demonstrate knowledge of key anatomical exposures for the care of injured and acutely ill surgical patients; 2) demonstrate his or her technical ability to expose important structures that may require acute surgical intervention to save life or limb; and 3) gain confidence in performing anatomic exposures independently.

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The American Society of Anesthesiologists sponsored course for moderate sedation ensures that that a non-anesthesiologist [surgery resident] physician and team members providing moderate sedation have the critical clinical information and best practice guidance for their care of routine patients undergoing moderate sedation care. The course contains several modules outlining, the sedation continuum, patient evaluation and preparation, pharmacology, monitoring equipment, management of sedation emergence, and complications [airway, hemodynamic, neurologic] The Deep sedation course teaches the highest standards in patient safety for deep sedation, including the knowledge and skills for advanced airway management, deep sedation pharmacology, circulatory monitoring and support, and deep sedation team requirements, dynamics and management.

The National Ultrasound Faculty of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has developed Ultrasound for residents and surgeons: This online, on-demand course provides the learner with basic education and training in ultrasound imaging as a foundation for specific clinical applications. The course Is online, on-demand, and mobile friendly, and features updated state-of-the-art videos, animations and content. Residents will learn the techniques, challenges, and limitation associated with surgeon performed ultrasound in various clinical applications. The course lays the foundation for more advanced ACS Ultrasound Skills Courses which the resident may complete on his or her own volition.

FAST.

FLS is a comprehensive web-based course that includes a hands-on skills training component and assessment tool designed to teach the physiology, fundamental knowledge, and technical skills required in basic laparoscopic surgery. The goal is to provide our surgical residents the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery in a consistent, scientifically accepted format, and to test cognitive, surgical decision-making, and technical skills, all with the goal of improving the quality of patient care. The online study guides cover didactics, interactive patient scenarios and manual skills training, containing printable text reviews and practice questions. The Technical Skills Training Curriculum is proficiency-based, whereby trainees are oriented to the materials and self-practice until expert-derived performance levels are reached. The FLS Laparoscopic Trainer Boxes are available at each hospital SIM Center.

The SAGES Fundamentals of Endoscopic SurgeryTM (FES) program is a comprehensive educational and assessment tool designed to teach and evaluate the fundamental knowledge, clinical judgment and technical skills required in the performance of basic gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopic surgery (endoscopy), in a consistent, scientifically accepted format, and to test cognitive and technical skills – all with the goal of improving the quality of patient care. The course teaches and assesses the physiology, anatomy and fundamental knowledge and technical skills required to practice flexible endoscopic surgery of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and is comprised of an interactive web-based multimedia-enhanced didactics, and a two-part validated assessment made up of: 1) a web-based multiple choice exam for evaluating cognitive knowledge and judgment; 2) a virtual reality platform to evaluate fundamental technical and psychomotor skills. The FES Simulator is available at our BRRH location.

FUSE, is an educational program for residents that is comprised of an interactive web-based multimedia-enhanced didactic curriculum and an online multiple choice cognitive exam. The program is being designed to certify that a resident has the demonstrated knowledge fundamental to the safe use of surgical energy-based devices in the operating room, endoscopic suite and other procedural areas. At the end of this program, the participant will be able to: 1) Define proper electrosurgery terms; 2) Demonstrate understanding of the basic physics and physiology underlying the use of surgical energy; 3) understand the differences between radiofrequency (RF) electrosurgical generators, monopolar and bipolar instruments; and 4) verbalize the mechanisms of and minimize potential adverse events related to the use of surgical energy.

More than 10,000 clinicians a year on five continents receive Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) training. The course and its companion text help the resident to manage critically ill patients for the first 24 hours until transfer or appropriate critical care consultation can be arranged, to understand how to deal with the sudden deterioration of critically ill patients and to prepare the residents for their rotations in the ICU. The course consists of didactic lectures, a companion textbook, case-based skill stations, and pre- and post-tests. At the completion of the course, the residents will be able to: prioritize assessment needs for the critically ill patient; select appropriate diagnostic tests; identify and respond to significant changes in the unstable patient; recognize and initiate management of acute life-threatening conditions; and determine the need for expert consultation and/or patient transfer and prepare the practitioner for optimally accomplishing transfer.

The ACS/APDS Surgery Resident Skills Curriculum has been developed jointly by the American College of Surgeons and the Association of Program Directors in Surgery and includes three phases. Phase 1 includes 20 modules covering the basic surgical skills. Phase 2 includes 15 modules that address more advanced skills and procedures, and Phase 3 includes 10 modules that address team-based skills. The ACS/APDS Skills curriculum is integrated into the comprehensive Simulation curriculum within the General Surgery residency at FAU. Phase 1: Basic/Core Skills and Tasks: Advanced Laparoscopy Skills; Advanced Tissue Handling: Flaps, Skin Grafts; Airway Management; Asepsis and Instrument Identification; Basic Laparoscopy Skills; Bone Fixation and Casting; Central Line Insertion and Arterial Lines; Chest Tube and Thoracentesis; Colonoscopy ;Hand Sewn Gastrointestinal Anastomosis; Inguinal Anatomy; Knot Tying; Laparotomy Opening and Closure; Stapled Gastrointestinal Anastomosis; Surgical Biopsy; Suturing; Tissue Handling, Dissection, and Wound Closure; Upper Endoscopy; Urethral and Suprapubic Catheterization; Vascular Anastomosis Phase 2: Advanced Procedures: Gastric Resection and Peptic Ulcer Disease; Laparoscopic Appendectomy; Laparoscopic Inguinal Hernia Repair; Laparoscopic Right Colon Resection; Laparoscopic Sigmoid Resection; Laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication; Laparoscopic; Ventral Hernia Repair; Laparoscopic Ventral/Incisional Hernia Repair; Laparoscopic/Open Bile Duct Exploration; Laparoscopic/Open Cholecystectomy; Laparoscopic/Open Splenectomy; Open Inguinal and/or Femoral Hernia Repair; Open Right Colon Resection; Parathyroidectomy/Thyroidectomy; Sentinel Node Biopsy and Axillary Lymph Node Dissection; Phase 3: Team-Based Skills; Laparoscopic Crisis; Laparoscopic Troubleshooting; Latex Allergy Anaphylaxis; Patient Handoff; Postoperative Hypotension; Postoperative MI (Cardiogenic Shock); Postoperative Pulmonary Embolus; Preoperative Briefing; Retained Sponge on Postoperative Chest X-ray; Trauma Team Training. See more at ACS Website