Medical Students

OVERVIEW OF SURGICAL EDUCATION AT UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Medical student education at the University of Washington School of Medicine (UW SOM) takes many forms within the Department of Surgery. All students participate in one 6 week General Surgery clerkship during the Patient Care Phase of the 3rd year of medical school. The UW SOM serves the WWAMI region, which includes Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. Students complete their required clerkship at one of 22 clerkship sites distributed throughout these five states. Seattle based clerkship sites include UW Medicine affiliated hospitals: UWMC-Montlake, UWMC-Northwest, Harborview Medical Center (HMC), and Veterans Administration, Puget Sound Health Care System (VA), as well as Swedish Medical Center and Virginia Mason Medical Center, all of which offer more traditional, resident-led team-based experiences. Sites outside of the greater Seattle metropolitan area, in the WWAMI region, follow more of an apprenticeship model, often with no residents and fewer attendings. Each clerkship has a physician site director who is given latitude to arrange the rotation experience so that it maximizes the opportunities that the site has to offer. Clinical work is augmented by online coursework including a didactic library of recorded lectures by UW SOM experts and virtual case scenarios.

Multiple 4th year advanced rotations available during the Explore and Focus Phase of the medical school curriculum at the VA, HMC, and UWMC-Montlake allow for further exploration of surgery as a career and are among our highest rated clerkships. Additional 4th year elective rotations are also available throughout the greater Seattle and WWAMI region for those interested in community practice settings.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY MEDICAL STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM

Kristine Calhoun, MD

Director of Medical Student Surgical Education
calhounk@uw.edu

Roger Tatum, MD

Associate Director of Medical Student Surgical Education
rtatum@uw.edu

CAREER COUNSELING FOR UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDENTS

Students interested in pursuing a career in General Surgery are matched with a department career counselor who can help guide them through the residency match process. Individualized counseling sessions aimed at assessing competitiveness are arranged by contacting Laura Yale, Program Administrator (surgstus@uw.edu). These one to one meetings are usually conducted by one of the department’s faculty dedicated to medical student career counseling. These informational sessions can be conducted at any year of the medical student curriculum.

In addition to these one on one meetings, more intense career counseling is given to students who have committed to applying to General Surgery for the residency Match. A series of informational presentations are given starting in spring of the year the ERAS application will be due. Sessions describing the general application process, the interview process, logistics of the match and the possibility of needing to SOAP are discussed. Students are matched to a primary career counselor who is available to answer questions and offer guidance throughout the application, interview, and rank list seasons. These counselors are also integral in the writing of the Department Recommendation Letter, often a required component of many programs’ application.

Current Career Counselors

Kristine Calhoun, MD

Director of Medical Student Surgical Education, General Surgery, UWMC-Montlake
calhounk@uw.edu

Roger Tatum, MD

Associate Director of Medical Student Education, General Surgery, Puget Sound Health Care System (VA)

Kathleen Berfield, MD

Cardiothoracic-Integrated Surgery Residency Program Director, Thoracic Surgery, UWMC-Montlake/Veterans Administration, Puget Sound Health Care System (VA)

Sarah Atkinson, MD

Assistant Professor
UWMC Montlake Colorectal Surgery Service Medical Student Director

Nick Cetrulo, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor
UWMC-Northwest Hospital Required Surgery Clerkship Site Director, UWMC-Northwest Hospital

Portrait photo of Dr. Judy Y. Chen-Meekin

Judy Y. Chen-Meekin, MD

Assistant Professor
Co-Director for UW Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery
UWMC Montlake Site Director
UWMC Montlake Minimally Invasive Service Medical Student Director

Zoe E. Parr, MD

Clinical Associate Professor
UWMC Montlake Emergency Surgery Service Medical Student Director

Plastic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Cardiothoracic Surgery have a parallel process to guide students applying into those residencies. Those faculty advisors are:

Kathleen Berfield, MD

Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery Program

Jeffrey B. Friedrich, MD, MC

Director of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Program

Elina Quiroga, MD, MPH

Director of Vascular Surgery Program

RESEARCH WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY FOR
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDENTS

There are a number of programs designed to connect University of Washington School of Medicine (UW SOM) students interested in participating in research with appropriate individuals within the UW SOM and we encourage students to utilize those resources. For additional information on these opportunities, please visit UW SOM research opportunities.

In addition, within the department we have identified attending surgeons who have agreed to serve as the initial point of contact for UW SOM students seeking surgery specific research projects. Faculty are listed by area of focus and expertise to allow students to tailor their search to areas of interest. For an up to date list please contact the Program Administrator (surgstus@uw.edu).

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY STUDENT INTEREST GROUPS

There are a number of surgery student interest groups that are active through the University of Washington School of Medicine (UW SOM). While each group has a defined faculty advisor, they are run by UW SOM medical students for medical students. The current active interest groups can be found here and in addition, several are described below:

The Surgery Interest Group

The purpose of the Surgery Interest Group (SIG) is to promote student interest in surgery, help students develop mentoring relationships with surgeons, and provide surgical skill development and residency application guidance. They host events quarterly throughout the year, including a “careers in surgery” panel, a residency match panel, suturing and knot-tying tutorials, and scrubbing-in sessions with a faculty advisor. Current faculty advisors are Kari Keys, MD (Plastic Surgery) and Kathleen Berfield, MD (Thoracic Surgery).

The Vascular Surgery Interest Group

The Vascular Surgery Interest Group (V-SIG) aims to promote interest in vascular surgery as a specialty, facilitate educational opportunities for medical students to learn more about vascular surgery as a career, connect students with shadowing and mentorship opportunities in the field, and enhance the experience of those pursuing research in the field of vascular surgery. The current faculty advisor is Sara Zettervall, MD.

The Association of Women Surgeons-UW Chapter

The Association of Women Surgeons-UW Chapter (AWS) is a national organization that provides a number of innovative programs that support women surgeons and have the power to impact the future of the field of surgery—for members and non-members. The AWS-UW Chapter is open to any UW SOM medical student, resident, or faculty member with an interest in a career in surgery. We are a great place to explore the field of surgery, connect with current residents and attending surgeons, and have a voice in shaping the future of surgery. The current faculty adviser is Kristine Calhoun, MD (General Surgery).

The Global Surgery Student Alliance

The Global Surgery Student Alliance (GSSA) chapter is a student group which focuses on global surgery as a field and helps to grow and understand this relatively new branch of medicine. Global surgery focuses on strengthening global systems and scaling capacity. The current faculty adviser is Barclay Stewart, MD (Trauma Surgery)

VISITING SUB-INTERNSHIPS FOR NON-UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE STUDENTS

Visiting student opportunities are offered in General Surgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Plastic Surgery. For information regarding the application process, program requirements, and a list of the courses available please visit UW Medicine Visting Student Clinical Elective Program.

Carlos A. Pellegrini Diversity Visiting Student Internship Program

The Department sponsors the Carlos A. Pellegrini Diversity Visiting Student Internships Program, which welcomes students to the department for four week clinical rotations. This program is open to competitive applicants who belong to groups that are recognized as historically underrepresented in the health and science professions including: African American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic American and Asian/Pacific Islander.

Seattle Children’s Visiting Elective Program in Pediatric Surgery for Underrepresented in Medicine Students

This Visiting Elective Program is a unique opportunity for fourth year medical students who are underrepresented in medicine and surgery and are interested in pursuing a career in General Surgery or Pediatric Surgery and/or Pediatric Surgery subspecialties (Transplant, Colorectal, Oncology, etc.)

Program Description

This elective will be awarded to two 4th year students annually. The elective is a one-month experience in the summer and fall months annually. Students will spend this time with the Pediatric General Surgery service at Seattle Children’s Hospital, a premiere free standing children’s hospital and one of the original 15 pediatric surgery training programs in the United States. The student will be integrated into the service including rounding on the ward patients, spending time in the operating room, and participation in educational conferences. The experience can be tailored to any of the student’s specific clinical interests. In addition to clinical exposure, this experience will provide exposure to mentorship and longitudinal assistance with career development from our Pediatric Surgery faculty and residents. A stipend of $2500 is included for travel, housing expenses, and meals.

Program Goals

Encourage students to consider a career in Pediatric Surgery
Enhance student awareness of opportunities in academic medicine
Provide specific mentoring and networking for underrepresented students

Application Requirements

Applicants for these funded positions should demonstrate academic excellence, leadership, and extracurricular experience, and must come from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in medicine including African American/Black, Alaska Native, American Indian, Hispanic/Latinx, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, and Southeast Asian descent. Those who apply to the program should be students who are highly motivated to pursue a career in General Surgery and have interest in Pediatric Surgery. Students must be in good standing at an LCME-accredited United States medical school. Applicants must provide the following:

Brief statement of interest in Pediatric Surgery and the visiting rotation at Seattle Children’s Hospital (1000 word limit) reviewing your reasons for wanting to participate, your career goals, and how this experience would enhance those goals.
Complete the VSLO application for the UW School of Medicine and apply to SURG 683
Current Curriculum Vitae
One letter of recommendation from a clinical faculty member.
Medical School transcript
USMLE Step 1 score and if already taken, also submit at Step 2 score report.
Completed Diversity Funded Elective Application.

We will start accepting applications April 1st, 2022 for the AY22-AY23 year. Application materials can be emailed to caitlin.smith@seattlechildrens.org. Applicants will be notified by June 24th of acceptance.