GENERAL SURGERY RESIDENCY PROGRAM

Welcome

San Joaquin General Hospital (SJGH) General Surgery Residency Program has a long history in the Central Valley of Northern California. We are a mid-sized program, graduating three residents yearly. Our primary hospital is a high-volume, county facility, with a busy trauma service and acute care surgery service. The Stockton area of California supplies many penetrating trauma patients for us to care for, allowing for a significant proportion of operative trauma. Residents are expected to be “hands-on” from day one and begin operating relatively early in their training. Our residents also rotate at several other large hospitals in the area, which provide a variety of practice environments and specialty exposures. Residents easily obtain the required numbers of surgeries for the various specialties within general surgery training. Our affiliated institutions include Saint Joseph’s Medical Center, Washington Hospital (Fremont) and University of California, Davis Medical Center. We also have no surgical specialty fellows at our hospitals, which means that our residents take part in the most advanced surgeries.

We offer a level of autonomy that is higher than most programs. As interns the residents are taught to manage a service. There is early surgical skill development with technical teaching, simulation and a small amount of operating room experience mixed in. By the time a resident is advanced to PGY-5 level, they are treated as a junior attending, making all major decisions on their service and performing all aspects of basic surgeries. There is an expectation that you will be able to operate independently by the end of your PGY-4 year. The PGY-5 year is spent with a heavy focus on complex surgery, teaching and high-level patient management. We have a strong focus on becoming a surgeon-leader, with dedicated leadership training during the PGY-4 year, so that chief residents are allowed to develop their skills in team management and executive function.

Also distinguishing our program is a focus on maintaining traditions and respect for the field of surgery. Quality assurance for medicine was initiated by surgeons many decades ago with creation of the morbidity and mortality conference and hospital peer review systems. There is a strong focus here on learning to defend surgical decisions verbally and present surgical plans with confidence at our surgical conferences. When combined with a strong surgical skill set and leadership ability, graduates are well developed and supported when they enter their fellowships and surgical practices.

We are proud also of our culture at this program. When you visit, you will immediately see that there are smiles on the faces of our faculty and residents. Residents are treated very well and enjoy their training. A benefit of a smaller program is the amount of attention given from individual attendings. We get to know each resident well and are easily alerted to anyone falling behind in their training. Early intervention is sometimes necessary to keep a trainee on track. Our philosophy is that every surgeon is unique, bringing other elements of their life and background into their practice. We value diversity and want to provide holistic encouragement and support for our residents. It makes them better surgeons and valuable members of society.

Clearly, there is a “right fit” program for each resident. We try to select incoming residents who have similar value systems for patient care and who will add to our program/community from a professional and personal level. We have done very well in the past and take great pride in the surgeons we are producing. Our residents have matched for fellowship in competitive programs across the country and graduate from those programs with strong reviews to enter their practices. We are excited to host interested candidates for interviews this coming season. We hope you will recognize the amazing opportunity of training here at SJGH.

Sincerely,

Gabriel Herscu, MD
General Surgery Program Director
San Joaquin General Hospital