Choosing a residency program is an important decision and WashU General Surgery residents are here to help. Our residents answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the residency program. If you have any questions regarding our General Surgery Residency Program, please do not hesitate to call the Office of Surgical Education at 314-362-8028 to talk with Christa, our senior residency coordinator; or email us at asksurgery@wustl.edu.
“How easy it is to live here. We have demanding jobs, but St. Louis makes life outside of the hospital fun and exciting, all while being easy and affordable. You can go to great Broadway shows, amazing breweries, James Beard-winning restaurants, all about 10 minutes from a house you bought.” – Annie Hess, MD General Surgery PGY-5
“St. Louis is a great place to live because it has a small town feel but it still has plenty of stuff to do, with tons of sports and arts/music events going on all the time. It’s also pretty affordable. It’s probably one of the few cities where one can afford to buy a home on a resident’s salary!” – Jorge Zarate Rodriguez, MD General Surgery PGY-5
“I love how St. Louis feels like a big and small town at the same time! It is so culturally rich and diverse that there’s always more to explore, but at the same time you don’t have to deal with annoyances of living in a big city.” – Vivi Abud, MD General Surgery Alumni
“Continue to learn more about becoming a safe surgeon (aka ABSITE studying), read a few more good books, and consistently meditate for 5 minutes every day…and try to remember that life is too short.” – Britta Han, MD, MSEd General Surgery PGY-5
“As I go into the lab, my goal for this year is to become more statistically-literate, so that I can read and critique papers more intelligently and can write some papers of my own.” – Jorge Zarate Rogriquez, MD General Surgery PGY-5
“In my final year of residency, I’m hoping to focus heavily on fine-tuning my operative technique, and to solidify my understanding of the vast array of disease commonly seen in general surgery and its subspecialties. Additionally, I hope to have an opportunity for even more exposure to Cardiac Surgery prior to fellowship.” – Rahul Handa, MD General Surgery Alumni
“Surgical residency is hard. Know yourself well enough to know what is going to get you through on the toughest of days and be unwilling to sacrifice that thing. For me, I knew my colleagues were going to be critical. Whether I’m barely surviving or actively, they are the first people I turn to.” – Hannah Phelps, MD General Surgery PGY-4
“Be honest with yourself about what you want out of a program, not only for your intern year but for every year of training. Then don’t be shy about asking for those things. You will find “your people” and your place.” – Annie Hess, MD General Surgery PGY-5
“Understand your value. You are a coveted asset. Have confidence in your accomplishments.” – Paul Kepper, MD, MS General Surgery PGY-5
“The most important thing to look for in a program is an environment where you think you will thrive. It is hard to objectively judge that, but try to find a place where current residents are as proud of their peers’ achievements as they are of their own. That usually shows that the culture favors camaraderie over competition among residents, which I personally think is important!” – Vivi Abud General Surgery Alumni
“I’ve worked on various research topics, including the pathophysiology of muscular dystrophy, testing novel treatment options for ALS disease, and analyzing the characteristics of autoimmune encephalitis on PET/CT.” – Leah Jensen, MD General Surgery PGY-1
“I have a background in the history of medicine. I plan to research the history of autonomy in surgical education and the American cultural trends of the last sixty years that have influenced changes in surgical educational structures and attitudes.” – Tiffany Brocke, MD General Surgery PGY-3
“I developed an early interest in pediatric surgery in medical school. After this year, I will be joining Dr. Warner’s lab for my dedicated research years. The lab studies intestinal adaptation after massive small bowel resection, with a recent focus in on liver injury in this context. My project will focus on the unfolded protein response as it relates to liver injury after small bowel resection. With the long-term career goal of becoming a pediatric surgeon-scientist, I look forward to the opportunity to work with and learn from this group of world-class researchers.” – Hannah Phelps, MD General Surgery PGY-4
“How long do you have? In basic science, I’m really interested in studying metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer and how they can be used to develop better treatments for individuals with pancreatic cancer. My other love is educational research. Coming from a background in cognitive science, I’ve been really interested in how we teach residents to be teachers and how we continue to improve trainee autonomy in a field like general surgery that is constantly changing and growing.” – Katharine Caldwell, MD General Surgery Alumni
“I read and knit, and I love public spaces – state parks, art museums, botanical gardens.” – Tiffany Brocke, MD General Surgery PGY-3
“I like baking and reading. Also enjoying Forest Park (bigger than Central Park!) right down the street. It has incredible trails, an outdoor theatre and plenty of places for a great picnic.” – Will Gerull, MD General Surgery PGY-4
“Reading a lot of books, finding new coffee shops, going on walks in one of the many parks around the city (including Forest Park, of course!), and spending a lot of time with my dog.” – Britta Han, MD, MSEd General Surgery PGY-5
“I mostly spend my time off exploring the many local restaurants, bars and breweries in town. I’m also a big fan of musical theater, and try to go to the Fox as often as I can. During the summer, Forest Park has tons of free events going on: they play classic movies on a huge screen at Art Hill and get a bunch of food trucks to park there, and the Muny puts on free musicals.” – Jorge Zarate Rodriguez, MD General Surgery PGY-5
“WashU has an amazing cardiothoracic program. It’s the only program I know where so many residents not necessarily interested in CT become interested in it during training and end up pursuing it! Amazing camaraderie and culture. Incredible operative volume balanced with prestigious academics and research.” – Hailey Shepherd, MD General Surgery PGY-4
“Right after my interview I called my mom and told her: “Mom, this feels like home.” The program curriculum has everything I was looking for and I knew that here I would have more than colleagues. From the residents to APDs to Dr. Wise, everyone made the interview stress go away and welcomed me as part of their family already. Also, I must mention, food in St. Louis is spectacular!!!” – Maria Martinez, MD General Surgery PGY-5
“WashU Surgery has an outstanding history of training excellent surgeons in every specialty. Each division is led by faculty members that are world-class leaders in their fields. The complexity, breadth, and depth of the case load is second-to-none. There is an obvious dedication to surgical education, and an abundance of opportunities to pursue other academic pursuits during residency training.” –Rahul Handa, MD General Surgery Alumni