Clinical Orientation Manual - University of Kansas Medical Center

esections, Whipple procedures, etc). Long hours (show-up around 4:45 AM and leave anywhere
between 4-9 PM). Excellent attendings (Dr. Mammen, Al-Kasspooles, DiPasco, and Delcore are
the main surgeons). One day of clinic per week. Assist on 10-12 surgeries per week.
General/Emergent - Basic hours (above). Good experience in the bread/butter general surgery
procedures (appendectomies, cholecystectomies).
Vascular - one of the more challenging but also worthwhile general surgery rotations. Dr.
Thomas is retiring this Fall but has been known to challenge students with high
expectations. Drs. Hupp and Vamanan are also excellent surgeons that teach you a lot. Be
prepared and read for each case. Be prepared to think on your feet but do not get down if you do
not know every question. Longer hours than other general services.
Minimally Invasive/GI - Very similar to General/Emergent service but more focused on
laparoscopic and GI procedures. Basic hours. Both are high-yield for shelf exam.
Transplant - also a fun but challenging service. Basic hours. Mainly focused on liver and kidney
transplantation. The surgeons can be eclectic but are also nice and fun to work with.
Specialty services:
Urology - considered by most students to be very laid back and fun service. No weekend
hours. Many surgeons on the service with a wide variety of procedures.
Orthopaedics - also a fairly laid back service. A little more hands-on than most of the other
specialty services; you will be asked to help out in surgeries a bit more than other services (but
this is also very resident/attending specific). Hours vary widely based on services (Hand and
Trauma are very busy with 70-80 hours/week while Total Joints and Sports are a little less time
demanding). Weekend hours vary - some residents will expect it but others will
not. Communicate with them each week.
Plastic Surgery/Burn - lumped together because most of the surgeons are plastic
surgeons. Good opportunity to learn especially if interested in plastic surgery, but a little less
hands-on (less opportunity to stitch, etc). Burn has excellent hours (no weekends, much less OR
time) but Plastic surgery generally requires weekend hours and longer days.
Neurosurgery - also a very laid back service. Even more hands-off than Plastic Surgery - many
students only scrubbed in on a few surgeries per week and observed most surgeries. The
residents and attendings are very nice and fun to work with. No weekend hours. Daily
conference at 4:30 PM and generally done after that. Interesting surgeries.
Breast - consists mainly of breast reconstructions after mastectomy for breast cancer.
ENT - very wide diversity of procedures based on what attending you work with. Many of the
surgeries can be very long (up to 12 hours) but are very interesting cases. A good mix of ENT
and plastic surgeru (facial plastics). Generally low yield for the shelf exam.
Pediatric - Dr. Schropp is the only pediatric surgeon at KUMC and he is also the KU Residency
Director. He is very fun to work with and an excellent attending; most students split cases with
36