Surgical Clerkships

Introduction

All medical students will spend assigned weeks on surgery under the supervision of an attending physician. During this experience, the student will be an integral part of the surgeon’s team.

Each rotation will have specific goals and objectives. At the closure of the rotation, students will be able to demonstrate:

An appropriate surgical history and physical exam, develop a differential diagnosis and treatment plan for each patient while demonstrating effective clinical reasoning.
Knowledge of the pathophysiology, signs and symptoms, differential diagnosis, diagnostic/laboratory tests (with interpretation) and development of a treatment plan of each surgical topic presented in the Core Curriculum.
Self-directed learning skills utilizing medical resources in the care of patients
Effective communication with all members of the healthcare team and surgical patients.
Honesty and integrity in performance of all student responsibilities.
Awareness of comprehensive surgical care utilizing the team approach.

Marcus W. Balters, MD

Clerkship Director, Surgery
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Paige A. Harwell, MD

Assistant Clerkship Director, Surgery
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Caitlyn R. McCall, MD

Assistant Professor
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Trauma/ACS

This rotation exposes students to three components of Acute Care Surgery (ACS): Trauma, Emergency General Surgery (EGS), and Surgical Critical Care (SCC). CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center – Bergan Mercy is an American College of Surgeon's verified level I trauma center and tertiary care referral center for complex surgical conditions within the Omaha Metro area. Students will be involved in care of the traumatically-injured patient in the resuscitation bay, operating room, floor, and ICU. The EGS service manages a wide range of acute surgical diseases. Participation in the evaluation, intra-operative, and post-operative phases of care is expected. The Surgical Critical Care service provides ICU care to trauma patients, EGS patients, and critically-ill patients from other subspecialty surgical services. All services are teaching services and emphasize a multidisciplinary approach to patient care.

Dr. Eric Kuncir (Division Chief)
Dr. Carlos Fernandez
Dr. Viren Punja
Dr. Kaily Ewing
Dr. Neil Patel
Dr. Ikenna Nweze
Dr. Caitlyn McCall
Dr. Greg Koval

Surgical Oncology/Colorectal

The Surgical Oncology/Colorectal Service offers a wide variety of common and complex conditions and surgical procedures. For surgical oncology, students will be exposed to surgical patients with skin cancers, soft tissue sarcomas, GI cancers just to name a few. For colorectal cancers, M3 will be of evaluation of patients with cancers of the colon, rectum and aun via open or minimally invasive approaches. M3 will be part of lunch and learn meeting with Dr. Al-Refaie reviewing various aspects of surgical oncology.

Dr. Waddah Al-Refaie (Surgery Department Chair)
Dr. Devi Mukkai-Krishnamurty
Dr. Awinder Singh
Dr. Gokul Subhas
Dr. Andy Yang
Dr. Kyle Cassling

Green Service – General Surgery

Green Surgery is a community-based practice with in and outpatient procedures. These include Gi tract surgery, cholecystectomy, foregut, stomach, small bowel, colon, endocrine, breast, and hernia procedures.These are done Laparoscopically, Robotically, and as Open procedures. Students will work with a team of 4 providers, two Surgical residents, a 3rd year and a 5th year (Chief), and other students. Students will be at Lakeside Hospital and Lakeside Outpatient Surgery, as well as Creighton-Bergan Mercy and Bergan Mercy Outpatient Surgery We like to provide a good overview of Surgery, and look forward to seeing you on our Service!

Dr. Michael McNamara
Dr. Susanne Sasse
Dr. Glenn Gardner
Dr. Joseph Wolpert

Thoracic Surgery

Located at Creighton University Medical Center, students working with a team of thoracic surgeons, Nurse Practitioners, PA's, and residents will see advanced open, thoracoscopic, and robotic operations. They will learn basic surgical techniques in thoracic surgery, participate in thoracic clinics and help take care of a wide variety of patients in the hospital both as inpatients and for consultations. Students will additionally get exposure to dialysis access procedures and the care/decision making surrounding these patients.

Dr. Erin Gillaspie (Division Chief)
Dr. Marcus Balters

Immanuel - General Surgery

The surgical rotation at CHI Immanuel exposes students to a wide breadth of general surgery. Students will have extensive patient contact both in the clinic and in the hospital where a high volume of cases are performed with an emphasis on bariatric, minimally invasive (robotic and laparoscopic), hernia, foregut, and colorectal surgery. In addition, there is a strong endoscopic experience involving upper endoscopy and colonoscopy.

Dr. Michael Hovey
Dr. Devi Mukkai-Krishnamurty
Dr. Gokul Subhas
Dr. Awinder Singh

Head/Neck

The head and neck service offers experience with endocrine surgery, complex head and neck cancer surgery, as well as reconstructive surgery. This service is busy clinically and surgically, offering each student exposure to complexity of the management of patients with head and neck malignancy.

Dr. William Lydiatt
Dr. Oleg Militsakh
Dr. Robert Lindau
Dr. Aru Panwar
Dr. Andrew Coughlin
Dr. Angela Osmolak
Dr. Andrew Holcomb

Mercy

The Mercy GS rotation is an opportunity for students to experience a community-based surgery practice while still being close to the Metro. Students will assist with bread-and-butter general surgery cases such as lap chole, lap appy, robotic and open hernia repairs, large and small bowel resections, breast surgery, as well as upper and lower endoscopies. Students will also follow patients from their pre-procedure clinic consultation through their surgery into their post operative care. For students interested in rural medicine, Dr. Hale does weekly outreach to the critical access hospital in Missouri Valley where she does scopes, outpatient surgery, clinic and clinic procedures.

Dr. David Mortensen
Dr. Erin Hale

VA

Located at the Omaha VA Medical Center, this rotation allows for an immersive opportunity to observe and participate in the delivery of surgical care within the largest healthcare system in the US, which specifically caters to the needs of veterans. The emphasis is on performing histories and physicals for inpatient, ER, and outpatient clinic consults and then participating in formulating and documenting plans with both resident and attending supervision. Students will also participate in daily inpatient rounds and observe a variety of surgical procedures in general surgery, surgical oncology, colorectal, thoracic, vascular, and plastic surgery. There is much opportunity to observe multidisciplinary care coordination given the complexity of pathology encountered.

Dr. Matthew Rivard
Dr. Nicole deRosa
Dr. Kimberly Hartnet
Dr. John Roth
Dr. Andy Yang
Dr. Awinder Singh

Boystown

The experience at Boystown Pediatric Surgery is a unique one that will allow direct interaction with the Pediatric Surgeon in both the clinic and operating room settings. The student will also be encouraged to join the team at Children’s Nebraska when a surgeon is not scheduled that day at Boystown, giving the academic experience of Pediatric Surgery.

Dr. Robert Cusick
Dr. Megan Fuller
Dr. Kathy Schall
Dr. Melissa Suh

Urology

The M3's on urology will be integrated on the urology service at CUMC-Bergan. They will round with the residents and participate in the urology procedures with the residents. The residents will provide guidance on what will be expected from the medical students on rounds. The medical students will be exposed to the full spectrum of urological diseases and emergencies. The medical students will enhance their basic surgical and endoscopic skills on this service; suturing and knot tying will be expected. Medical students should also expect to enhance their urethral catheterization skills as well (on both females and males). Urology clinic exposure is also available.

Dr. Michael Feloney (Department Chair)
Dr. Larry Siref
Dr. Galen Meyer
Dr. Joan Delto
Dr. Taylor Soon-Sutton

Burns Service (St. Elizabeth Hospital)

The Burns Surgery Rotation at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Lincoln gives medical students hands-on experience in caring for patients with serious burn injuries. Under the supervision of Dr.’s Voigt, Hao, and Rivera, students take part in all aspects of burn care, including initial assessment, wound treatment, surgery, and recovery. “You will experience the clinical and surgical care of some of the most ill patients. Hands-on experience is important to surgical training,” and the surgical team at St. Elizabeth’s will involve you as much as possible. Students work closely with a Creighton General Surgery Resident and the full burn care team, gaining exposure to critical care, fluid management, infection control, and reconstructive procedures. This 3-week rotation is designed to build knowledge and confidence in managing complex cases. Housing is provided for M3s selected for this rotation.