The University of California Davis Medical Center provides a supportive and challenging educational environment within which residents from diverse backgrounds can prepare themselves for careers characterized by a commitment to excellence in service to others through patient care, research, teaching, and lifelong learning. Faculty offer residents the opportunity to participate in the delivery of leading-edge care, exposure to state-of-the-art facilities, and provide mentorship in the delivery of safe, compassionate, and ethical care.

Program Highlights

Here at the Department of Surgery, we are committed to the residents we match. This includes fostering an environment rich in diversity, innovation and continuous learning, and with providing each resident the opportunity to achieve their specific career goals. Our residency program includes five clinical years of postgraduate training at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento California with six affiliated hospitals. A special feature of our program is the option for taking one to two years of fully funded academic enhancement/research time after the third clinical year.

The goals and expectations of the educational program are distinct for each clinical year. The PGY-1 year provides an introduction to the broad discipline of general surgery, focusing on peri-operative care offered in two tracks: categorical and preliminary. There are nine categorical positions – two are filled in the military match and seven are filled through the NRMP Match. There is a variable number of preliminary positions available each year. In a typical year, there are six to ten preliminary PGY-1 residents from the U.S. Air Force and four or five civilian preliminary PGY-1 residents. The civilian positions are filled through the National Residency Match Program Match. Categorical residents are assured steady progress through the five clinical years in the program, provided they meet predetermined guidelines set by the department. The preliminary positions are one-year long. Regardless of categorical or preliminary status, all residents are afforded the same educational opportunities and are held to the same standard.

Our goal is to create an environment where every resident succeeds. Our commitment and passion drives everything we do, and we seek to cultivate that passion in our residents. With this in mind, we have created Career Development Experiences for residents interested in the areas of Surgeon/Scientist, International/Rural Surgery, Public Policy/Comparative Effectiveness and Surgical Education. Residents in the program also go through a seminar series, Residents as Teachers and Leaders, aimed at teaching the skills necessary to teach medical students / junior residents and to lead clinical and administrative teams while in training and beyond. We have a strong history of being at the forefront of surgical innovation and training and this tradition continues each year with our residency programs.

For further details about sample rotation schedules and electives, please go to the UC Davis General Surgery Residency page.