Our didactics are held every Wednesday. Attendance is mandatory for all sessions, with protected time from clinical duties between 10 AM – 1 PM.
Mandatory
| Morbidity and Mortality Conference | Wednesday | 7:00 AM - 8:00 AM |
| Surgery Grand Rounds | Wednesdays | 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM |
| Break for Clinical Duties | Every 4th Wednesday | 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM |
| SCORE Conference | Wednesday | 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM* |
| Surgical Skills Lab | Wednesday | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM* |
| Program Director Conference | Every 2nd Wednesday | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM |
| Chairtman Conference | Every 4th Wednesday | 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM |
| Quality Improvement Conference (Senior Residents Only) | Wednesday | 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM |
*Denotes protected time from clinical duties (pager-free)
Surgical Council on Resident Education curriculum. An assigned SCORE topic is reviewed by a faculty member who is an expert in that field.
Attendance is required from 7 AM to 1 PM, with the Quality Improvement (QI) conference being mandatory exclusively for the senior most resident on service. All residents must attend meetings from Mortality and Morbidity (M&M) to the Skills Conference.
QI attendance is specifically compulsory for chief residents. The timeframe between 10 AM and 1 PM is designated as protected, during which pagers are strictly prohibited. Until the service sign-out at 0900, residents retain possession of their pagers.
However, between 10 AM and 1 PM, residents must transfer pagers to faculty, mid-level providers, or off-service residents to ensure our residents can fully engage in protected educational time.
Morbidity and Mortality Conference
Faculty members from the Department of Surgery, surgical residents from all PGY levels, medical students in surgical clerkships, County Coroner, Pathology, Radiology and other medical specialties attend this weekly departmental conference. Surgical faculty and residents, with the assistance of other involved medical specialties, review their treatment and management of actual patient cases. Specific focus is placed on outcomes resulting in death or morbidity. This review explores issues related to risk management, quality assurance, ethics, medical knowledge and technical competency. This conference affords those presenting cases an opportunity to develop and practice communication techniques and teaching skills. A critical review of the literature routinely takes place.
Department of Surgery Grand Rounds
Surgical faculty, residents, and surgical clerkship students attend this weekly departmental conference. UTMB faculty and visiting guests formally present discussions related to clinical topics and/or research which have significance to patient treatment and care. Those attending have an opportunity to engage in a collegial dialogue with the presenters, exploring the topic and its relationship and applicability to surgical procedures and postoperative management of patients. A general review of the literature on a topic is presented, and research design and statistical methods are discussed.
Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) Conference
A lecture is given on an assigned SCORE topic by a faculty member who is a content expert. Residents are required to complete a pre and post assessment on the assigned topic.
Surgical Skills Lab
This hour is used by our residents to hone their skills and prep for FLS, FES, robotics, and other skills.
Program Director and Chairman Conference
The PD and Chairman meet formally with the residents monthly to discuss our program.
Surgical Quality Improvement Conference
Faculty members from the Department of Surgery, surgical residents from all services and risk management staff attend this weekly departmental conference. Surgical faculty and residents, with the assistance of other involved medical specialties, review their treatment and management of actual patient cases. All surgical cases are reviewed with specific focus placed on outcomes resulting in death or morbidity. This committee determines which cases are to be presented at M&M conference.
Morning Report Conference
Morning report conference is held every morning at 7:00 AM (except 6:30 AM on Wednesdays) during which all consults from each UTMB campus are discussed among faculty and residents. Evening sign-out is held at each campus with individual services.
Tumor Board Conferences
There are weekly specialty specific multi-disciplinary tumor board conferences which discuss comprehensive cancer care.
Tumor Board Conferences
| Multidisciplinary GI Tumor Board Conference | Wednesday | 4:00 PM | 6.164 MC, VL, SJMC, 646 Dickinson |
| Multi Thoracic | Thursday | 12:00 PM | 6.106 MC |
| Multidisciplinary Breast Tumor Board Televideo Conference | 2nd and 4th Fridays | 8:00-9:00 AM | Cooley Conf Room, VL, SJMC, 646 Dickinson |
Journal Club
The Department of Surgery holds a monthly journal club for the residents and faculty at UTMB. Residents are expected to read, evaluate, and present clinical trial data and basic science papers that have translational relevance to clinical practice. They are taught to evaluate the quality of the literature and interpret the findings. Chosen articles vary, and include basic science, randomized controlled clinical trials, health services/comparative effectiveness research, meta-analyses, and relevant case series.