Professional Development
“Surgical training is intense, and sometimes one can get a bit lost during the process and forget the original motivations for signing up in the first place. Professional development time allows trainees to refocus, take a breath, and remember what a blessing and a privilege it is to be a surgeon and how many different ways we have to help people.”
— Dr. Tom Weiser, Clinical Professor
Surgical residents in our standard 5+2 track spend two years focusing on their professional development (PD) after their third clinical year. An expansion of the traditional “research years,” residents in our program may choose from several paths that expands their knowledge and advances the fields of surgery and patient care. Past residents have pursued bench work in a wet lab, outcomes fellowships and earning additional degrees.
Each resident will prepare for their PD time through a comprehensive three-year curriculum designed by Stanford Surgery residents, for Stanford Surgery residents. The program includes time to explore opportunities, find mentors, and learn the finer points of grant writing, all during protected education time. Furthermore, residents receive personal mentorship from one of two Directors of PD so that each plan is personalized to meet their individual goals.
A bootcamp—operated by S-SPIRE Center—welcomes residents to this unique time in their academic career.
We believe that the knowledge and skillsets obtained during PD time helps our surgical residents to differentiate themselves amongst the other 1200 outstanding graduates in surgery every year.
PD Interviews
Dr. Amy Tsai worked in the Gaudilliere Lab and uses her background in immunology to study kidney transplants and graft survival.
Dr. James Agolia says he "wanted a second chance" at doing wet lab work. Working in the Hagey Lab under Drs. Dan Delitto and Michael Longaker, he's learned about fibrosis, rare tumors, single-cell RNA sequencing, and spatial transcriptomics assays.
In addition to a Clinical Informatics Fellowship, Dr. Josh Villarreal has been co-chair of the Residents' Safety Council focusing on language equity, patient safety, hospital readmissions, and hospital communications.
Dr. Justine Chinn didn't spend her PD time on just one thing. In addition to completing the Stanford AHRQ Health Policy Fellowship, she did research with the MIS/Bariatric Surgery Division, AND did an internship with the TV series "Grey's Anatomy."
Dr. Norah Liang worked in Dr. Michael Longaker's lab, where she learned basic science techniques. She also served as the Pediatric Innovation Fellow
Dr. Chuner Guo talks about her work looking at cancer-associated fibroblasts' immune machinery, the environment at the Hagey Lab, and mentorship.
Dr. Beatrice Sun
Completed an MPH while pursuing a number of surgical oncology research projects.