Third Year Student Rotation- General & Vascular Surgery - WLA VA
Answers to commonly asked questions:
Q: Who do I contact before starting on the General & Vascular Surgery service?
A: Students should page the intern (R1) on the General Surgery (GS/VA) service before they begin the
rotation to find out when and where to meet. The name of the intern and pager can be found on the R1
General Surgery rotation schedule located at the Surgery website: http://www.surgery.ucla.edu/resident/
If for some reason you are unable to contact your team before starting on Monday, report to the GLA-VA
Resident Office on the 5th Floor West Wing, room 5434B, Building 500 (main hospital) at 6:00 am on
Monday. The resident office phone number is (310) 478-3711 x40553 or x44362. If your team is not in
the office, then call the VA Hospital operator and have the general surgical resident on call overhead
paged. He or she will be able to help you locate your team.
For computer access, contact the Administrator for the Department of Surgery 310-268-3457 in bldg. 500,
6th floor west wing, room 6654. He will provide you with the necessary access codes. If he is unavailable
contact the Clinical Informatics Department (x84111) and explain that you are a new student who needs
computer access. Clinical Informatics is located in bldg 500 room 1605.
Q: What clinics should I attend?
A: You should attend clinics when you are not in the operating room. Your chief resident will assign you
to either the operating room or the clinic each day. All clinics that you will attend are located on the 1st
floor of Bldg 500 (Main Hospital) room 1622. The phone number to the resident work room in the clinic is
x41680.
Monday
9 am Rectal Clinic – Drs. Ko and McGory
1 pm General Surgical Clinic - Drs. Sawicki and Sebastian
Tuesday
9 am Surgical Oncology Clinic - Drs. Tomlinson and Brooks
Thursday (2 x / month)
1 pm General Surgery Clinic – Dr. Hirai
Friday
9 am Vascular Surgery Clinic -Drs. O’Connell, Gelabert, Rigberg, and DeVirgilio
Q: What Conferences should I attend?
A: You should attend conferences if you are not in the OR or in clinic. Your chief resident will indicate
which activity to attend when there is a conflict.
Monday
7:30 am VA M&M Teaching Conference (Bldg 500, Room 6659)
Tuesday
2:30 pm Tumor Board – held in Pathology conference room Bldg 500 room 1217
Wednesday
7: am UCLA Teaching Program held at UCLA
Friday
7:30 am Resuscitation (Passaro) Rounds – held in Resident Office, room 5434B
8 am Vascular case conference – held in Radiology on ground level
1:30 pm (first Friday of month only) Endocrine Tumor Conference, Bldg 500, 6 th floor room 6659
2 pm Autopsy Conference (3rd Friday of each month) - Pathology conf .Bldg 500 room 1217
Q: What if I have Systems-Based Healthcare or a lecture which conflicts with rounds, clinics,
conferences, etc?
A: You are expected to attend your Systems-Based Healthcare and lectures, and are excused from the
conflicting event. Please inform your team of the conflict in advance.
Q: Do I take night call?
A: Night call is not required because sleeping arrangements are not always available. However,
because unique learning opportunities frequently occur at night, we do encourage interested students to
take night call. Check with your team to determine what sleeping arrangements can be made, or
consider staying for part of the night and sleeping at home.
Q: Whom do I contact if I have a problem?
A: If you are unable to come to the hospital for any reason, please notify your Chief Resident and Iris
Mau at 310-206-2567. If you have any other concerns or problems, please contact Dr. Mark Sawicki, VA
pager 5717 or by e-mail: msawicki@mednet.ucla.edu or his VA office assistant at 310-268-3544.
Schedule of Conferences and Clinics
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
6 AM Rounds
6 AM Rounds
5:30 AM Rounds
6 AM Rounds
6 AM Rounds
7:30 M&M
Conference
7:30 Residents in
OR
7AM-10 AM
UCLA Education
7:30 Residents in
OR
7:30 AM Passaro
Rounds
8:30 Residents in
OR
9 AM Colorectal
Clinic
1 PM Gen Surg
Clinic
4 PM Rounds
8AM
Vascular
Conference
9 AM Surg Onc
Clinic
2:30 Tumor
Board
4 PM Rounds
10:30 AM
Residents in OR
11 AM Amputee
Clinic
1:00 PM Hirai
Gen Surg Clinic
4 PM Rounds
9AM Vascular
Clinic
2 PM Autopsy
Conference (3rd
Fri)
1:30 PM Endocrine
Tumor Conference
(1st Fri)
2 PM Education
hour (suturing or
SESAP)
4 PM Rounds
VA GENERAL & VASCULAR SURGERY STUDENT CLERKSHIP GOALS
1. You should read the current literature about the surgical problems associated with the patients
you evaluate in clinic and inpatient wards. You should learn the particular disease:
a. Signs, symptoms and clinical presentation
b. Important findings on examination
i. Demonstrate competence performing the abdomen exam
ii. Demonstrate competence performing a vascular exam
c. Essential laboratory tests and their utility
d. Essential imaging tests and their utility
e. Differential diagnosis
f. Treatment options
g. Prognosis
2. You should learn how to take a focused surgical history and physical exam, develop a differential
diagnosis, and propose a reasonable treatment plan for each of your patients at the time of
patient admission.
3. Demonstrate the ability to use the SNAPPS technique for case presentations.
4. Every week you will give a formal presentation on a clinical topic relevant to one of the patients
you have treated. One of these may be a Best Evidence of Topic (BET) Report.
5. You should follow 2-4 inpatients every day, perform their admission, history and physical, present
their progress on rounds, and participate in their operations.
6. You should learn how to resuscitate sick surgical patients as taught every week during Friday
morning Passaro rounds.
7. You should learn to perform basic procedures such as Foley catheter placement,
IV line placement, phlebotomy, and NG tube placement.
8. In the operating room you will have the opportunity to assist in operations. You should make
every effort to prepare by practicing basic knot tying skills prior to going to the operating room.
9. You should learn to work with the surgical team as an integral member of the Service.
10. You should be familiar with the diagnosis and management of the following common surgical
problems.
Vascular Surgery
Claudication
Carotid disease
Aortic aneurysms
General Surgery
Acute abdomen
Hemorrhoids
Colon cancer
Diverticular disease
Hernias
Cholecystitis and cholangIitis
Melanoma
Hyperparathyroidism
Thyroid cancer