Surgery Residency Program

Department Overview

The ETSU Department of Surgery is committed to providing our residents with the highest quality training in general surgery. Our surgical residents finish with a strong foundation and are well prepared to launch a variety of surgical careers. All of our graduating residents meet the American Board of Surgery surgical case experience requirements in the defined categories. ETSU Surgery training provides a rich and diverse clinical training experience. The didactic curriculum is based on the Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE). There are additional opportunities for research and scholarly activity. The ETSU Department of Surgery has six full-time research faculty members with multiple post-doctoral fellows in six laboratories with $8.7 million of research funding, including $5 million of NIH funding. 

Why ETSU? How To Apply Benefits

Program Overview

ETSU Surgery provides excellent training in our affiliate hospitals across a spectrum of diverse healthcare systems. Johnson City Medical Center (JCMC) is our primary training hospital. JCMC is a 488-bed tertiary center with Level I Trauma Verification. It is the flagship referral center for twenty-one hospitals in the Ballad Healthcare system. This includes Bristol Regional Medical Center (BRMC), a 348-bed referral center with a busy surgical department serving a large catchment area in NE Tennessee and SW Virginia. Franklin Woods Community Hospital in Johnson City provides access to several surgical procedures, including robust minimally invasive and robotic surgery experience. Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport offeres Level lll trauma center. The James H. Quillen Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center is a 114-bed hospital providing excellent general surgery and endoscopy experience. In addition to these hospitals, an elective international rotation at Monze Missions Hospital in Zambia is available for PGY 4 residents. The ETSU Department of Surgery also sponsors a Global Health Fellowship under the direction of Dr. Luther Ward, which offers opportunities in Africa.

Residents work with a variety of surgical faculty, from broad-based community general surgeons to highly subspecialized surgeons with expertise in Acute Care/Critical Care and Trauma surgery, surgical oncology, hepato-pancreato-biliary/transplant surgeons, vascular, cardiothoracic, plastic and reconstructive and pediatric surgery. Clinical rotations vary from one-on-one apprenticeships to university rotations where surgical residents work in a team-oriented structure. Approximately 70% of our graduates practice general surgery, and the remainder transition to advanced clinical fellowship training. Graduates have matched into competitive fellowships in cardiothoracic, MIS, colorectal, trauma/critical care, plastics, breast, endocrine, transplant, and vascular surgery. 

Our residency program seeks motivated medical school graduates who answer the noble call to train as a surgeon and who are passionate about quality patient care across the spectrum of severity and age. We prepare young surgeons for a path to lifelong learning, the joy of teaching and commitment to patient safety and performance improvement. Please explore the videos to learn more about what ETSU has to offer.