General Surgery Services has been structured to emphasize educational exposure to the principal components of general surgery defined by the ACGME. Each is staffed in a classical hierarchical configuration with a Chief Resident overseeing the work of senior and junior residents and medical students. Each service has operating days, including assigned time for clinic patients. Residents spend one full day a week in the outpatient area to assure continuity of care.

The Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) is a state-of-the-art 20-bed facility. Patients are cared for in individual rooms with full on-line computer capabilities including electronic record-keeping. The SICU team is headed by general surgery faculty and staffed by surgical residents and affiliating residents from anesthesia, obstetrics and gynecology and other programs. As part of the rotation, residents receive a structured educational program in surgical critical care, including weekly lectures and journal club.

The Trauma Service is under the responsibility of a general surgery team comprised of surgical residents with around-the-clock faculty support. There is a steady volume of patients with major injuries (of which 65% are blunt and 35% penetrating). Patients are managed exclusively by surgeons from the moment they arrive in the emergency department. Cedars-Sinai has Emergency Medicine faculty but no residents.

On the General Surgical Service, residents are given a concentration in laparoendoscopic and minimally invasive procedures, endocrine surgery and surgical oncology. Cedars-Sinai is an international leader in endoscopic surgery, with major clinical and research programs.

The Cedars-Sinai Transplantation Program is world renowned for its clinical excellence and innovative research contributions. Adult and pediatric liver transplantation and hepatobiliary surgery are performed on the Liver Service. A program in pancreas transplantation is under development. The Liver Support Unit consists of a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to the care of patients with severe acute fulminant hepatic failure. This unit has reported the best patient survival data in the literature and has developed a bioartificial liver that is currently being tested in an FDA-approved study. Surgical residents may rotate through the unit during their research year(s). The institution has active kidney, heart and lung transplantation programs. Residents are exposed to the range of transplant activities including organ procurement, surgical procedures, perioperative management and immunosuppression.

The Vascular Service provides in-depth exposure to all aspects of this specialty. Our vascular program is among the finest in the region.

Cardiac Surgery is taught in a free-standing senior and junior level rotation. Cedars-Sinai has major programs in adult and pediatric cardiac surgery, including heart and lung transplantation. Rotation on the service provides meaningful exposure to all aspects of care of the pediatric and adult cardiac surgical patient. Postoperatively, patients are managed in a dedicated cardiac surgical intensive care unit. Thoracic surgery is an area of major concentration, with a particular emphasis on new minimally-invasive thoracoscopic techniques in addition to a wide variety of open thoracic procedures. As there are no fellowship programs in these areas, surgical residents receive a truly unique educational and operative experience.

The Pediatric Surgical Service is a recently established service that offers a rich resident experience with all aspects of surgical care of neonates and children. Cedars-Sinai has the largest and busiest neonatology unit in the area. Surgical residents rotating through the service, work closely with pediatrics and neonatology residents and staff.

Junior residents receive instruction in all of the surgical specialties, including urology, otolaryngology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, skull base and craniofacial surgery, hand surgery and plastic surgery. Advanced cases in these specialties are often available to the senior surgical residents, as we have no specialty training programs.