The experience you need to succeed as a surgeon
Operative experience is a strong component of the residency and begins in the junior years of training. We offer a large number and variety of cases across the spectrum of general surgery, including extensive exposure in surgical subspecialties.
One of our most successful educational experiences is to provide autonomy to the chief residents during their rotation on the Surgical Resident Service. Attending physicians staff the service, providing immediate and direct supervision.
Most importantly, the chief resident takes ownership of this service by the continuity of care provided to the patients. The chief resident evaluates patients during their preoperative visits, formulates a plan and participates in intraoperative and postoperative care.
We are committed to providing state-of-the-art teaching, with one of the centerpieces of our curriculum being the Kinsley Family Foundation Medical Simulation Center.
The highly technical mock operating rooms and mannequin simulators enhance the technical skills training of our residents. We also provide equipment to practice skills for both Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) and Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES).
About the hospital, facilities, and opportunities
Serving six counties in south central Pennsylvania, WellSpan York Hospital is a 596-bed community teaching hospital and the region's only accredited Level I Trauma Center.
We have 17 operating rooms and perform more than 15,000 surgeries each year. We perform an additional 11,000 outpatient surgeries at our Apple Hill outpatient surgery center and perform surgeries in the advanced procedural and endoscopy suites. Residents are trained on our 5 da Vinci Xi surgical systems, each with a dual console to gain the best possible robotic experience.
The emergency department delivers care to more than 85,000 patients each year, and we typically have more than 2,200 trauma admissions per year, including blunt and penetrating. Our program is clinically oriented and provides the residents with progressive, supervised, patient care responsibilities at all postgraduate levels of training.
Integrated into our curriculum is an opportunity to rotate at two affiliated rural hospitals. WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital and WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital give residents the opportunity to work in a rural setting in Franklin and northern Lancaster counties. In addition, residents are able to operate with general surgeons, Ob/Gyn, orthopedics and ENT. This rotation allows residents to gain more autonomy and experience in other surgical specialties.
Due to the philanthropic interests of our faculty, our residents travel with surgical teams to provide surgical care in a variety of international locations. The residents participate in private mission trips involving our faculty surgeons with members of the York community. In addition, we are in the process of applying for an established international rotation in Mauritania supported by one of our alumni. Learn more about our global health opportunities.
Inpatient services
Acute care services are located strategically to provide optimal trauma and emergency resuscitation. Inpatient includes radiology services, emergency department, operating room, surgical intensive care unit, post-anesthesia care unit, cardiac diagnostic lab and pulmonary function lab.
Acute care facilities include a 60-bed intensive care unit, which includes a 20-bed trauma/surgical ICU. Another 40 ICU beds are shared between surgical and medical patients. Postoperative cardiac patients receive care in a separate open heart/medical ICU.
The hospital has a 24-hour laboratory, blood bank and radiology services and an excellent ancillary staff. Prompt delivery of support services aids in the delivery of excellent patient care and efficient use of resident time. Radiology services are available at any hour, and our PACS system facilitates review of these studies.
Our hospital also has a Comprehensive Stroke Center, a state-of-the art emergency department, one of the region’s most advanced interventional heart and vascular suites and the largest Level III neonatal intensive care unit in the region.
As part of WellSpan’s commitment to expanding community access to advanced specialty care for complex conditions, a new eight-story surgical and critical care tower is set to be completed by the end of 2025. This $225 million investment will provide larger, state-of-the-art surgical suites and will increase the number of our ICU beds to 96.
