Program Requirements

General Surgery and Surgical Specialties

The Core Surgical Clerkship is a prerequisite for advanced elective courses in clinical surgery. Research electives may be scheduled with faculty members by arrangement, with the assistance of the faculty advisors or the clerkship director.

Second, Third, or Fourth Year

A six-week core clinical clerkship will be offered each block and can be taken at any time from the last quarter of the second year through the first quarter of the fourth year. One-half of the block will consist of a clerkship experience in General Surgery. These consist of:

  • Cameron (hepatopancreatobiliary)
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Halsted (trauma, general)
  • Handelsman (surgical oncology/endocrinology)
  • Ravitch (GI, minimally invasive) services

The other half of the quarter will be divided between two of the following Surgical Specialties:

  • Ambulatory/Perioperative Surgery
  • Cardiac Surgery
  • Neurosurgery
  • Orthopaedic Surgery
  • Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Transplant Surgery
  • Urological Surgery
  • Vascular Surgery

Outpatient and Ward Work

  • General Surgery Basic Clerkship: Each student will be assigned to a major teaching service for approximately three weeks. These will include the general surgical services of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Bayview Medical Center, or Howard County General Hospital. Students assigned to the Johns Hopkins Hospital will do both their general and subspecialty rotations at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.  Students assigned to Bayview will do both their general and subspecialty rotations at Bayview. Students assigned to Howard County General Hospital will be assigned to subspecialty rotations at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. 
  • Cardiac Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Time on the rotation will be split between the Cardiac OR and Cardiac ICU.
  • Thoracic Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
  • Transplant Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
  • Vascular Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.
  • Orthopaedic Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks either at the Johns Hopkins Hospital or at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
  • Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks either at the Johns Hopkins Hospital or at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
  • Urology: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks either at the Johns Hopkins Hospital or at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
  • Plastic Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks either at the Johns Hopkins Hospital or at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
  • Neurosurgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately 1.5 weeks either at the Johns Hopkins Hospital or at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Topics in General Surgery. Staff in General Surgery. Didactics cover core material from general surgery and surgical subspecialties.

Topics in General Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Staff in General Surgery. Students return to Johns Hopkins Hospital one day per week for didactics and labs, and preceptor meetings.

Topics in General Surgery at the Howard County General Hospital. Staff in General Surgery. Students return to Johns Hopkins Hospital one day per week for didactics, labs, and preceptor meetings.

Surgical Specialty Conference. All staff in the surgical specialties. All students assigned to surgery quarter. All lectures covering core material basic to the surgical specialties.

Surgery Grand Rounds. All Surgery staff. Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 am.

Elective Opportunities

General Surgery and Surgical Specialties. Elective courses must be approved by the Dr. Alodia Gabre-Kidan. Each department/division has a designated preceptor. A complete list of clinical and research electives can be found here https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/students/academics/electivebook.pdf. 

A subinternship in surgery is designed to give the advanced student supervised participation in clinical care of patients. This elective must be applied for at least two months before the starting date to insure appropriate credentialing by the Department of Surgery and the hospital. The Core Surgery Clerkship must be completed prior to an elective or subinternship being started.

Major Clinical Courses

The prerequisite of all major clinical electives is the Surgery Core Clerkship.

Department of General Surgery

Sub-Internship
Advanced Clerkship in Surgical Oncology
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in General Pediatric Surgery
Advanced Clerkship in Transplantation Surgery
Advanced Clerkship in General Surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Advanced Clerkship in Vascular Surgery
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Surgical Intensive Care
Advanced Clerkship in Thoracic Surgery
Advanced Clerkship in Alimentary Tract Surgery

Department of Neurological Surgery

Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Neurosurgery
Subinternship in Neurosurgery

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Spine Surgery
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Pediatric Orthopaedics
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Adult Limb Reconstruction and Trauma
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Adult Orthopaedics at the Union Memorial Hospital
Advanced Clerkship in Hand SurgeryJohns Hopkins Hand Service
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Shoulder Surgery

Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Otolaryngology

Department of Plastic Surgery

Subinternship in Plastic Surgery
Advanced Clinical Clerkship in Urology