General Surgery Residency

Block schedule

The general surgery block schedule follows a monthly rotation for the first 3 years and a bimonthly rotation for the last 2 years.

PGY-1

• Acute Care Surgery
• Anesthesia
• Breast & Reconstruction Surgery
• Cardiothoracic
• Hepatobiliary
• Cirugía mínimamente invasiva
• Orthopedic/Neurosurgery
• Surgical ICU
• Trasplante
• Trauma
• Vascular

PGY-2

• Acute Care Surgery
• Breast & Reconstruction Surgery
• Cardiothoracic
• Colorectal Surgery
• Hepatobiliary
• Head & Neck Surgery
• Cirugía mínimamente invasiva
• Pediátrico
• Surgical ICU
• Urología
• Vascular

PGY-3

• Acute Care Surgery
• Breast & Reconstruction Surgery
• Cardiothoracic
• Colorectal Surgery
• Endoscopic
• Hepatobiliary
• Cirugía mínimamente invasiva
• Trasplante
• Trauma
• Vascular

PGY-4

• Acute Care Surgery
• Breast & Reconstruction Surgery
• Head & Neck Surgery
• Cirugía mínimamente invasiva
• Pediatric Surgery (1 month)
• Electivo

PGY-5

• Acute Care Surgery
• Colorectal Surgery
• Hepatobiliary
• Cirugía mínimamente invasiva
• Trauma
• Cirugía vascular

Rotaciones

Acute care surgery

The Acute Care Surgery or ACS service is both our emergency general surgery and trauma service. This service’s patient population comes principally from in-house consultations, whether from the Emergency Department or from medicine inpatient services. However, there is an increasing practice of elective and outpatient cases. The ACS service has a dedicated OR (Room 1) and is in the midst of a growing robotic caseload. Finally, medical students and Anesthesia residents also rotate through the ACS service. General Surgery Resident collaboration and ability to teach is appreciated and highly encouraged.

Anesthesia

This rotation on the Anesthesia service provides an excellent opportunity for our residents to place monitoring lines and to intubate patients under a controlled setting. Additionally, this is your chance to learn about anesthesia during surgery as well as learning how to place nerve blocks post operatively. Lastly, there will be other learners on this rotation, including TY and EM residents, as well as CRNA trainees who will also be seeking to perform procedures. This rotation may teach you to be respectfully assertive.

Breast and reconstruction surgery

The Breast Reconstructive rotation will include cases that are performed at the Main OR as well as at Andrews Women’s Hospital. Please familiarize yourself with their OR prior to starting this rotation. Many of the breast cancer cases are combined with reconstructive surgery so, in addition, this will be a mini-Plastics rotation as well.

Cirugía cardiotorácica

The Cardiothoracic or CT service has been rapidly growing over the past 5 years, and includes both cardiac cases (CABGs, valve replacements, e.g.) and thoracic procedures (lung resections, VATS, transthoracic hiatal hernia repairs, etc.). Robotic approaches are also flourishing on this service. The CT service has two dedicated ORs (Rooms 15 & 16).

Colorectal surgery

The Colorectal Surgery or CRS service, like many service lines, performs most of their cases robotically. The CRS service in most hospitals set the bar with regard to ERAS application. Please do your part on this service by making sure we are ERAS compliant with these patients.

Endoscopy

The Endoscopy rotation, lead by our GI colleagues, was included to give our third-year residents the exposure and experience necessary to meet the minimum number of upper and lower endoscopic cases required for graduation. Combined with the endoscopic experiences on both the Colorectal Surgery and MIS services, you should be well prepared for your Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (FES) exam.

Cirugía de cabeza y cuello

The Head & Neck Surgery (H&N or ENT) service is the busiest service line (by surgical volume) not only at BASMC, but also in the country.  In addition to bread & butter H&N cases (thyroidectomies, parathyroidectomies), residents will participate in complex procedures which includes principles of plastic surgery, upper GI surgery and neurosurgery. The team is staffed by fellows and various APPs. Their patients are generally taken care of by the medical intensivists in the ICU and a hospitalist service on the floor. There are H&N surgeries just about daily with multiple rooms running (2+) from Monday through Thursday.

Hepatopancreatobiliary surgery

The HPB service is a growing service at BAS. Unlike transplant, HPB cases are scheduled and thus you will have amble time to prepare. HPB cases are performed using open, robotic and laparoscopic techniques.

Cirugía mínimamente invasiva

The Minimally Invasive Surgery or MIS service is led by our Core Faculty member, Dr. Garcia.  Most surgeries are outpatient, but there will be some combination cases with our H&N service. Dr. Garcia also performs a number of endoscopies so this will be a great opportunity to gain experience in this discipline (and requirement).  Finally, this rotation also included outpatient cases performed at Baylor Surgical Hospital and Baylor Surgicare. A weekly list of upcoming cases will be provided for the Baylor Surgical Hospital.

Ortho/Neurosurgery

This combined rotation will give residents exposure to general orthopedic, spine and neurosurgery cases. Orthopedics has a dedicated OR (room 2) and there will be some neurosurgery cases at the Baylor Surgical Hospital down the street. Please familiarize yourself with this center.

Pediatric surgery (Cook’s)

Cook Children’s is a busy stand-alone pediatric hospital in Fort Worth that has been rapidly expanding over the past decade. Residents from other surgical programs rotate at Cook’s as well.  Resident call schedule will be determined when you are on service. Vacation will not be allowed while on this rotation.

Cuidado crítico quirúrgico

This rotation is led by Dr. Freeman, who serves as Director of Surgical Critical Care. Residents will be involved in ICU care for trauma, general surgery, transplant, and critically ill patients including complex cardiac mechanical support like LVAD and ECMO. 

Cirugia de trasplante

The Transplant service is among the busiest on campus. It is a multidisciplinary service, and residents will have an opportunity to work with many consultants. In addition to transplants, residents will be involved in off campus procurements as well as general surgery cases on transplant patients. Transplant has a dedicated OR (room 17).

Trauma (JPS)

The Trauma service at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth is a busy Level 1 trauma center. Residents will have an excellent experience there. Note that residents from other surgical programs rotate at JPS as well. Resident coverage is thru 24 hours shifts with your team. Vacation will not be allowed while on this rotation.

Urología

The Urology service is one of the busier ones on campus. Procedures vary from cystoscopies to radical nephrectomies to complex urologic cases including ileal conduits and bladder reconstructions.

Cirugía vascular

The Vascular service is a rapidly growing service line with a breadth of cases, from AVF creations to CEA to AAA repairs. We have a dedicated Hybrid OR (Room 9) equipped for X-ray imaging and endovascular surgery.

Conferences

• Breast Tumor Board – every Wednesday, 12-1pm (Hybrid – WebEx and JKBC Education Room)
• General Tumor Board – 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesdays, 7:30 - 8:30am (Hybrid – WebEx and JKBC Education Room)
• Head & Neck Tumor Conference – every 3rd Thursday, 6:30 - 8am (Hybrid - WebEx and JKBC Education Room)
• Liver Tumor Conference – 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 7-8am (WebEx)
• Pancreas Tumor Conference – 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, 6:30 - 8am (WebEx)
• Transplant Grand Rounds – every Thursday, 12-1pm (WebEx)
• Trauma PIP Ops – 3rd Monday of every Month ((Hybrid - TEAMS and JKBC Education Room)
• Critical Care – every Friday 12-1 WebEx
• High Risk Cardiothoracic Conference – Every Friday 7:30 WebEx
• LVAD – every Friday 7:00am (Webex)
• TAVR – every Thursday 5:00pm (Hybrid - Webex and A6 conference room)
• HPB Tumor Board – every Thursday, 7:30-8:30am (Hybrid – Webex and C8 Conference Room)
• Liver-Pancreas Clinic Conference – every Thursday 7:30 - 8:30am (Hybrid – C8 and Webex)

Didactic - Educational days

Every Friday will be our didactic/educational day and will typically be as follows:

• 7am-8am – M&M
• 8am-9am – Grand Rounds
• 9am-11am – Score Curriculum
• 11am-1pm – Lunch
• 1pm-3pm – Simulation & Skills Lab

Investigación

Publications:

• Grisel B, Kaur K, Swain S, Gorenshtein L, Chime C, O’Callaghan E, Vasireddy A, Moore L, Shin C, Won M, Ebangwese S, Tripoli T, Lumpkin S, Ginsberg Z, Cantrell S, Freeman J, Agarwal S, Haines K. The Ethical Obligation to Treat Infectious Patients: A Systematic Review of Reasons. Clinical Infectious Diseases. abril 24, 2024. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciae162
• James A, Wermine K, Haines K, Freeman J. Trauma disparities in burn injuries. Curr Probl Surg. 2025 Jul;68:101771. doi: 10.1016/j.cpsurg.2025.101771. Epub 2025 abril 23. PMID: 40500026.
• Wermine K, Gohar S, Milhoan R, Youree B, Ramarathnam V, Alqaim M. Successful management of mycotic visceral aneurysms in a LVAD patient and navigating LVAD postoperative challenges. J Vasc Surg Cases Innov Tech. 2024 diciembre 24;11(2):101715. doi: 10.1016/j.jvscit.2024.101715. PMID: 39896821; PMCID: PMC11787573.
• Goyal S, Choy J, Wermine K, Pradeep S, Hafeez K, Milhoan R, Srinivasan L. From Throat to Limb: A Novel Case of Compartment Syndrome Following Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis. Case Rep Infect Dis. 2025 mayo 6;2025:5016797. doi: 10.1155/crdi/5016797. PMID: 40364903; PMCID: PMC12074849.
• Wermine K, Gohar S, Milhoan R, Youree B, Ramarathnam V, Alqaim M. Successful Management of Mycotic Visceral Aneurysms in a LVAD Patient: Navigating Postoperative Challenges. The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Volume 43, Issue 4, S598. abril 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healun.2024.02.909
• James A, Wermine K, Haines K, Freeman J. Trauma disparities in burn injuries. Curr Probl Surg. 2025 Jul;68:101771. doi: 10.1016/j.cpsurg.2025.101771. Epub 2025 abril 23. PMID: 40500026.

Research projects:

• ERAS in Live Kidney Donor Recipients Prospective Research Project. 2025.
• Dobhoff Tubes Retrospective Research Project. 2025.
• Case Series: A Retrospective Single Arm Review of AV Loop Patency and Graft. 2025.
• Systematic Review: Trauma Disparities in Burn Injuries. 2025.