Welcome to Harborview Medical Center’s General Surgery program
Harborview Medical Center is located in downtown Seattle and is one of the main training sites of the University of Washington’s School of Medicine. Teaching future physicians and surgeons has been the heart of our academic mission since the first graduating class in 1950.
Being the only Level 1 Trauma Center in our region, Harborview provides a unique training environment. A team approach is emphasized and during your rotation here, you will have the opportunity to work alongside colleagues from other surgical programs in the city, physicians from other specialties, and individuals training in other disciplines.
Our program is dedicated to providing quality surgical education and patient care in a public hospital setting with tertiary care expertise and resources. We emphasize close collegial relationships between attending surgeons, fellows, residents and staff.
There is ample opportunity for academic enrichment and inquiry and we welcome you to Harborview.
Lisa McIntyre, MD, FACS
Associate Program Director, General Surgery Residency
Director of Surgical Education, Harborview Medical Center
OVERVIEW
The 
overall aim of every program is to train you to become a knowledgeable, safe and competent surgeon. These goals – what you are expected to achieve – and objectives – how you are expected to achieve them – are guidelines designed to reflect a series of supervised patient care experiences in a system of graduated responsibility.
Each year at Harborview is designed to present you with a unique set of challenges to help develop your surgical skills in a graduated fashion. Therefore, all seven competency levels in each year must be mastered prior to advancement to the next year of training. Level-specific competency objectives were prepared by the faculty to give you more concrete examples of the performance standards we expect during each year.
HMCR1
The R-1 is assigned to general surgery for 5 to 6 months and to the emergency trauma center at Harborview for 1 or 2 months. Responsibility focuses on initial evaluation and on pre/post operative care. The R-1 assists in operations on his or her patients and performs appropriate operative procedures.
HMCR3
The R-3 experiences the primary responsibility of leading a team under the direction of a chief resident. This leadership role is reinforced on the burns/plastic service where the R-3 serves as the senior resident. The R-3 performs major operations under close supervision.
HMCR4
With the operative experience and surgical maturity gained during the R-3 year, the R-4 fine-tunes their knowledge and technical skills on both general surgery and sub-specialty services.
Chief : Team 1 & 2
The chief resident year provides major responsibilities in patient care, teaching, and administrative tasks. The Chiefs perform the most complex operative procedures, supervises junior residents when appropriate, and assume responsibility for the operative and supportive care of all surgical patients on the service. Chief residents enjoy a significant amount of decision-making latitude in the context of constant attending staff supervision. As leaders in the program, they also participate extensively in teaching students and residents, clinical investigations, and in departmental and service administrative matters.
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