Not all learning can be gleaned from the bedside or texts. A strong didactic component of the resident education process is essential to teaching excellence in patient care. To complement these educational sources, the Department of Surgery has created a three-faceted educational program: conferences, oral presentations and written presentations of clinical information.

Conferences are divided into departmental and surgical specialty conferences. A Conference Curriculum Committee includes senior level residents, the surgery residency coordinator, the program director and associate program directors. This committee is responsible for designing the curriculum that will cover a broad spectrum of topics most useful to the educational component of the residency. The conference schedule has been developed for a 24-month cycle using the SCORE Curriculum. All categorical residents are required to attend 75% of departmental conferences as mandated by the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Surgery. Residents also attend specialty conferences specific to their clinical rotation. The conference format varies from the formal presentations of patients and discussion of disease processes in General Surgery Conference to Grand Rounds to the debate format.