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

An eight-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:

Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) Services:

  • Cameron Blue, Cameron Gold, Cameron Green, and Handelsman GI: Primarily hepatobiliary and pancreatic oncology as well as other GI surgical problems. Laparoscopic/robotic and open surgery
  • Eckhauser: Colorectal surgery, open and laparoscopic/robotic surgery
  • Halsted: Trauma as well as emergent and elective general surgery
  • Handelsman BEM (breast, endocrine, melanoma): Thyroids, parathyroids, adrenals, breast and melanoma
  • Pediatric Surgery: General surgery, trauma, oncology and thoracic surgery in the pediatric population
  • Ravitch Colorectal: Colorectal surgery, open and laparoscopic/robotic surgery
  • Ravitch MIS (minimally invasive surgery): Almost all laparoscopic/robotic, primarily foregut, biliary and hernia surgery

Bayview (BV) – Community hospital where students will work with Johns Hopkins faculty and surgery residents.  Students will see laparoscopic and open GI, oncology, hernia and bariatric surgery. Students will spend the entire rotation at Bayview including the subspecialties.

Howard County (HCGH) – Community hospital where students will work directly with Johns Hopkins faculty and surgery residents. Varied breadth of open and laparoscopic general surgery, foregut, hernia, and colorectal surgery cases. The subspecialty rotations will be at JHH.

The other half of the quarter will be divided between two of the following Surgical Specialties: Cardiac Surgery, Neurosurgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedic Surgery, Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Transplant Surgery, Urological Surgery, and Vascular Surgery.

Outpatient and Ward Work

General Surgery Basic Clerkship: Each student will be assigned to a major teaching service for four 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. All didactics and labs will take place on Wednesdays at JHH. Didactics will cover both general and specialty topics. Weekly preceptor meetings will take place at JHH or BVMC.  General Surgery Grand Rounds take place on Thursdays, 7:30 - 8:30 AM. 

Cardiac Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately two 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 two weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Transplant Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately two weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Vascular Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately two weeks at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Orthopaedic Surgery: Students will be assigned to this department for approximately two 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 two 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 two 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 two 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 two weeks either at the Johns Hopkins Hospital or at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Surgical Specialty Conference/Grand Rounds. Varies by specialty.

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: Electives Book: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

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