Administration & Policies - General Surgery Residency Training Program ::

Administration & Policies

Resident Vacation/Conference Travel Policy

(revised June, 2008)

The purpose of this policy is to provide an outline of the allowable time for vacation/academic/scientific meeting attendance during the academic year (July 1 – June 30 annually). This policy was reviewed and approved by the Surgical Education Committee. Any un-used time may not roll over to the next academic year without prior written approval from the Program Director and General Surgery Chief.

First Year Resident:

Two weeks

Junior Assistant Surgical Resident – Senior Assistant Surgical Resident

(JAR – SAR 1 & 2):

One full calendar month.

Chief Resident:

Two weeks plus adequate time for interviews.

(Interview time must be preapproved by the Program Director and Administrative Chief).

Surgical Research Resident Fellow:

Four weeks per academic year and permission of the supervising laboratory director/administrator.

Note: Any extended period of time away not involving your set vacation time must be preapproved by the Program Director.

Academic/Scientific Conference Attendance Policy:

Please see Benefits According to Year listed below:

(revised - November, 2009)

Beginning July, 2009

Attending an Annual Academic/Scientific Conference will be limited to residents demonstrating academic producitivity in the prior year and who are in good standing with respect to their administrative activities.

The specific criteria to earn this benefit are:

1. Submission of publication, acceptance of an abstract, or submission of a grant.

Other efforts such as intense involvement in research projects that have not resulted in either of these, will be reviewed on a case by case basis with the Program Director.

2. ABSITE scores above the 50th percentile.

3. Conference attendance exceeding 65%.

4. Up-to-date ACGME Case Logging.

Each Junior Assistant Surgical Resident through Chief Resident may attend one scientific meeting per year for no more than 3 full days inclusive of travel in the Continental U.S. In general, residents will be supported for one to two days to attend meetings for the presentation of scientific data at oral (non-poster) sessions. All residents wishing to attend an academic/scientific meeting must have approval by the Division Chief and have arranged for appropriate coverage of their service in their absence through the Administrative Chief Resident and the Program Director of General Surgery or his designee. The program will sponsor national but not international meetings and will fund no more than 2 trips per year total.

To obtain approval, all residents must get permission in advance in writing through the use of the Academic/Scientific Meeting Approval Form and return to the same General Surgery Residency Office within a minimum of 35 days prior to travel. First Year Residents may be approved for an Academic/Scientific Meeting if approved by the Program Director and the Division Chief under special circumstances and reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Benefits According to Year:

Categorical PGY1: no annual meeting, $750 towards a laptop to facilitate academic productivity, EBM, web-based curriculum, etc.

PGY2: Annual meeting, Loupes (contingent upon completion of preparation for academic time). For some residents the research preparation contingency should be waived(i.e. those slotted to do a SAR1 year prior to research, or no research at all)

SAR1, SAR2, Chief: Annual Meeting ($1300), $300 Education resource allowance.

Research Fellows: Annual Meeting ($1300). No educational resource funded.

All Residents: Travel to meetings for oral presentations ($1100 limit).

General Rules:

1. Annual Meetings: AAS/SUS for Research Fellows, Others to be determined by program director taking into account requests. Will be generally limited to the main General Surgery and Related Subspecialty Major Meetings in the continental U.S. Approval by Dr. Kuo required for all travel. This benefit is contingent upon academic productivity in the preceeding year (abstracts, book chapters, publications, grant writing, etc. as outlined by the program director).

2. Educational Resource Allowance: For the purchase of educational materials including textbooks or computer-based educational materials germaine to General Surgery and its Related Subspecialties. Unused funds do not carry over. Approval of the program director or Chief of General Surgery required prior to purchase.

3. Presentation-Associated Meetings: Travel for the purpose of oral presentations limited to the minimum time required for travel and presentation. For most destinations in the eastern U.S., this would involve travel the night before and returning on the evening of the presentation.

4. Laptop: For residents leaving the program prior to graduation, the $750 is to be refunded.

5. Loupes: For residents leaving the program prior to graduation, the full cost of the Loupes is to be refunded.