If you’re interested in becoming a general surgeon, and you desperately want to prepare yourself for the next Match Season, then check out the top 20 general surgery residency programs in US below.
Now, we all now that becoming a surgeon takes a lot of time, effort and nerves. Not to mention the hard work and dedication. The required education for surgeons is four years of undergraduate school in order to earn a bachelor’s degree in physical sciences (preferably). After two more years of foundational medical courses in medical school, come two years of clinical clerkship. Only after obtaining Medical Doctor (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degrees, one can continue a medical training in residency and fellowship programs (3-7 years). The length of residency depends on the chosen field (in surgery). Whichever surgery residency program you choose to attend you will receive similar training in the first two years. What is typical for general surgeons is that they are the surgical equivalent of family practitioners. Their practice and knowledge differ from other surgical specialties — let’s say, neurosurgery, where a trainee is focused on learning how to perform operation procedures concerning only the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, etc.).
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In the last three years of their residency period, trainees have specific training in particular regions of the body. In special circumstances, general surgeons can perform procedures that are not in their field of specialty. In the U.S. there are roughly 700,000 physicians licensed to practice medicine and surgery. It is estimated that fewer than 5% of these surgeons limit their practices to general surgery. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2017 there were 38,600 surgeons in the country, working for a mean annual wage of $251,890.
So, since you are reading this article, we are presuming you have already finished medical school. That’s why we wanted to give you a broader picture when it comes to the residency programs. The great start is our article on 10 best surgical residency programs in the US. Then you can read about top 10 emergency medicine residency programs and top 10 OBGYN residency programs in America. One of the best-paying medical specialties is, without doubt, neurosurgery, and we strongly suggest you read our article on 10 best neurosurgery residency programs in America. And then there are top pathology residency programs as well as top internal medicine residency programs which we, unfortunately, haven’t covered yet, but just in case… Stay tuned! Moreover, we all know that there’s a large rural population served by small hospitals in the country, especially in Midwestern states. In these areas, the need for surgeons who desire to practice (and live) there is great. So, if you’re one of them do check out some of the community general surgery residency programs in the country. However, in case you are more into studying and working abroad, we suggest you reconsider some of the best surgical residency programs in the world listed by Scholarship Positions.
Before we get to our list of top 20 general surgery residency programs in US, we should briefly explain the methodology used (it’s quite similar to the one used for the list of top 12 surgery residency programs in 2018). So, we consulted the U. S. News, Research Gate, and Doximity. There you can check out the general surgery residency rankings for the year 2016 and 2017 as well. Then we singled out the top general surgery residencies according to their popularity, research activities, tuition, number of clinical and research residents as well as the number of positions and reputation. We overlapped the results and finally come up with genuine Insider Monkey general surgery residency (2018) rankings.
Now, shall we start the countdown?
20. Emory University, School of Medicine
We are starting off with the general surgery residency of the Department of Surgery of the Emory University School of Medicine. You can apply for a five-year general surgery training program or do a research in high-profile research labs. Emory is the only research-oriented medical center in Atlanta. There you will have access to seven distinct training facilities with a huge patient population.
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