The Department of Surgery carries out instruction during all four years of School of Medicine attendance. The third-year six-week clerkship constitutes the core of student exposure to general surgery and is required of all students. The fourth-year emergency-room clerkship is also a required part of the curriculum. The department offers a variety of fourth-year elective clerkships in a number of the specialty aspects of the department's clinical activities, including but not limited to trauma, cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, transplantation, surgical critical care, pediatric surgery, and the management of burn patients.