Specific Learning Objectives

Click here to see the Surgery Clerkship Manual

A. Students will learn basic principles of surgery, including:

1. Preoperative care

2. Postoperative care

3. Fluid and electrolyte therapy

4. Acid - Base balance

5. Surgical nutrition

6. Wound healing, wound care, wound management

7. Complications of surgery

8. Principles of asepsis

9. Shock

10. Burns

11. Priorities in multiple trauma

12. Endocrine response to trauma

13. Basic principles in surgical oncology

       B.    Students will learn basic concepts of common illnesses which pertain to surgery
              (symptoms, signs, pathophysiology, investigation, and principles of management)

1. Acute abdomen

2. Hernia

3. Esophagus

4. Stomach and duodenum

5. Biliary tract

Pancreas
Intestinal obstruction

8. Colon, rectum, and anus

9. Peripheral artery disease

10. Venous disease

11. Breast

12. Surgically treatable hypertension

13. Surgical implications of hematologic disorders

14. Immunologic, traumatic, and infectious implications of neoplastic disorders

15. Endocrine system including thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal

16. Thoracic disease

       C.    Students will observe and assist in the operating room and be expected to correlate surgical pathology
              with clinical findings.

D. Students will be able to adequately perform the following physical examinations: breast, abdominal,
rectal and hernia examinations.

       E.    Students will be exposed to basic suturing techniques, with the expectation that students are practicing
              these techniques on their own time and/or any downtime during the work day.