The Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery provides a range of educational programs for those interested in training as a DeBakey Surgeon, beginning with summer internship opportunities for interested undergraduate students and continuing to advanced postgraduate surgical training fellowships. We educate a highly qualified cadre of over 120 residents and fellows annually, training them to be surgeons and surgeon-scientists in specialties ranging from heart and abdominal transplantation to plastics and pediatric surgery. Central to the success of our programs is the close integration of our department at Baylor College of Medicine with each of our four prominent hospital associates - Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Ben Taub Hospital, and Texas Children’s Hospital. These iconic institutions represent a continuum of health care delivery provided at facilities that are each leaders in their respective arenas of patient care.
Our educational programs are built on a strong foundation of more than 150 world-renowned faculty. With the support of an outstanding education team, our residents generously contribute their time and expertise to mentoring junior trainees and students. With the support and active engagement of our residents and students, our graduate and undergraduate programs continue to advance every year, as evidenced by our exemplary student and resident recruitment results, approval ratings, board examination scores, and increasing number of graduating students seeking surgery residencies.
Under the guidance of our vice-chair for education, Dr. Ronald Cotton, working together with our consummate staff of educational administrators, our education team continuously seeks to define the standard for surgical education. Reflecting this commitment, our curriculum includes novel leadership training exercises, student and resident mentorship programs, “Boot Camps” for matriculating students, novel “Movie Morning” reviews of surgical videos, and “Chalk Talks” with faculty experts. In addition to our clinical and didactic programs teaching the “art” of surgery, we offer a robust research curriculum culminating annually in our Research Day, a two-day symposium attended by several hundred members of our department faculty, residents, and students that highlights the work of our trainees in the “science” of surgery.
Graduate Medical Education Programs
General Surgery and Specialty Surgery Residency Programs
Each of our nine residency and fellowship programs are fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and by their respective Residency Review Committees. These residency and fellowship programs accept highly competitive applicants from around the nation, and matriculate our graduates to leading academic programs and highly regarded private practices across the country each year. Our graduates in turn have repeatedly grown into leaders in their fields of interest, both in academics and in private practice. We are proud to be able to keep in close touch with our residents through our alumni society - the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society - and continue to applaud our alumni successes.
ACGME Approved Residencies and Fellowships
- General Surgery Residency
- Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
- Congenital Cardiac Surgery Fellowship
- Pediatric Surgery Fellowship
- Plastic Surgery Integrated Residency
- Thoracic Surgery Integrated Residency
- Thoracic Surgery (Independent) Fellowship
- Vascular Surgery Integrated Residency
- Vascular Surgery (Independent) Fellowship
- Hand Surgery Fellowship (Orthopedic Surgery)
TMB (Non-ACGME approved) Fellowships
The Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery also offers training through non-accredited ACGME fellowship programs, which are approved by the Texas State Board. These programs provide further training to surgeons in their chosen fields of specialization. Fellows continue to achieve the goals of their respective programs each year, and to further contribute to the well-being of the communities they serve.
Undergraduate Medical Education Programs
The Department of Surgery aims to inspire the next generation of DeBakey Surgeon by providing medical students with a balanced exposure to the surgical disciplines and a learning experience that meets core surgical competencies in both surgical knowledge and skills. Our faculty is actively involved in all educational aspects of our medical student programs, including clinical teaching in the operating room and at the bedside along with didactic teaching in the classroom and in the Simulation Lab. This year, our department will be hosting virtual meet and greet activities with medical students nationwide in order to familiarize interested residents in our post-graduate training programs. We also offer virtual visiting electives in which fourth-year medical students from Baylor and other schools can participate in senior year clinical rotations at any of our four primary affiliate hospitals. We closely align these efforts with our students’ interests and perspectives through our collaboration with Baylor’s Student Surgical Society, an organization that provides information and support for Baylor medical students interested in a career in surgery or a surgical subspecialty.
DeBakey Summer Surgery Program for Pre-Med Students
Our Michael E. DeBakey Summer Surgery Program has since 1968 welcomed undergraduate students from around the country to an eight-week immersion into the life of a surgeon. This unique and highly selective program offers pre-medical students the opportunity to work as integrated members of our surgical teams, and obtain an invaluable “insider’s” look at the life of a surgeon. The “Swan Song” presentations by our summer students to the department at the end of their rotations, relaying their reflections on what they learned during their time with us, are one of the highlights of the year for everyone in our department. Many of our summer students go on to careers in surgery - including some current members of our own department.
Continuing Medical Education
The department provides Continuing Medical Education (CME) hours for our weekly Surgery Grand Rounds and for our post-graduate conferences hosted throughout the year by of our divisions and sections working in collaboration with our department CME Office. Our Grand Rounds spotlight the scholarly expertise of renowned regional and national speakers on a diversity of topics ranging from professional development to the surgical sciences. These include four annual invited distinguished lectures and professorships, quarterly department journal clubs and clinical case presentations, and annual graduating chief resident presentations.