Residencies and Fellowships
The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine is ranked among the top medical schools in the United States, and its applicants are among the best and the brightest in the country. The school’s goal is to educate physicians who are science-based, skilled, and compassionate clinicians. One of the characteristics that sets the School of Medicine apart is its innovative curriculum, which features hands-on experience from UPMC combined with the disciplined academic focus of the University.
Charles Gray Watson Surgical Education Center
Traditionally, surgical residents trained and acquired skills exclusively in the operating room. For decades, this model has produced well-trained surgeons. The increasing complexity of operative procedures, especially laparoscopic and thoracoscopic techniques, have enabled more rapid recovery of patients. To continue to provide outstanding patient care, optimally train surgical residents, and foster further innovations, much of the training of residents and faculty must occur outside the operating room. Operative techniques must be practiced and mastered with computer-assisted technology, utilizing both dry and wet laboratory practice modules, prior to involvement in clinical operative care. The Charles Gray Watson Surgical Education Center provides optimal training of the next generation of surgeons and medical students.
Named for Charles Gray Watson, MD, a former professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and mentor to generations of medical students and surgical trainees, the Charles Gray Watson Surgical Education Center offers surgical residents and medical students an array of sophisticated educational and training tools, including:
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Six computer-equipped work stations that give users direct access to vast library resources, a range of medical databases, CD-ROM learning disks, the Internet, and more.
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Multiple surgical training simulators enabling residents and students to practice surgical techniques on life-like organ models. The simulators enhance the hand-eye coordination that is critical to surgical practice, and help develop the agility required to conduct laparoscopic operations and employ other technically challenging surgical techniques.
The simulator suites provide residents and students with the opportunity to practice a variety of operations in an educational laboratory setting before utilizing them in the operating room. These practice sessions are particularly valuable for mastering techniques requiring surgical repair or manipulation of organs through needle-sized portals, conducted with the aid of video cameras.
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Real-time wired access to operating rooms allows residents and students to observe operations in progress and hear the interactions of the chief surgeon with his or her operating room staff.
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A lecture hall with a "smart" podium, equipped with computer portals, a plasma screen, and the latest audio-visual advances including direct access to digitized radiographs, histology slides, and other useful images, enables students to learn and share in a collaborative atmosphere.
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The center's tape and CD library allows users to watch a particular operation on tape or CD, then use the training simulators to practice the techniques observed.
Other features include:
Course descriptions and program requirements are subject to change.