The general surgery residency program is supervised by Dr. William Cheadle, Program Director and Dr. Kelly McMasters, Chairman for the Department of Surgery at the University of Louisville (UofL). This five-year ACGME-accredited training program is founded on several key principles: intense experience in patient care and decision making, early operative exposure and the development of surgical science. This philosophy has developed through a rich history of surgical education and continues to produce the finest clinical and academic surgeons of our day. Our graduating chief residents have the general knowledge, clinical judgment and basic technical skills to be confident and knowledgeable general surgeons or to continue their training in any competitive fellowship.

Patient-based training: University of Louisville surgical residents train in a hands-on, non-simulated environment. With a large number of patients and very busy services, residents are exposed to a variety of surgical techniques very early in training. This experience is central to the Department's philosophy.

Operative experience: The sizeable patient base and variety of affiliated hospitals allow each resident to gain the breadth and depth of surgical experience necessary to gain board certification and feel confident practicing general surgery. Throughout the five-year program, most residents will perform 1,200 major cases including complex hepatobiliary, oncologic, vascular, transplant, pediatric, trauma and laparoscopic procedures. Residents also gain significant experience in interventional endoscopy, thoracoscopy and endovascular techniques.

Facilities: Residents rotate through five major hospitals creating a diverse experience in various patient populations. University Hospital, Kosair Children's Hospital, Norton Hospital and Jewish Hospital are all downtown within four city blocks while the VA Medical Center is only 3.5 miles away. Residents enjoy this close proximity and the ability to attend most departmental conferences and meetings.

Notice to applicants: The NRMP has found our program in technical violation of the Match last year and this will be indicated to you on ERAS for the coming year. We wanted to explain the situation to you. Our program was awarded non-designated preliminary general surgery positions last year by the RRC for Surgery for the first time ever. We did not list these positions in the Match, because we did not accept applications for them as part of the match. These positions were created in order to provide positions for preliminary Urology residents, as the University of Louisville had recently created a Department of Urology and has applied for a Urology residency program. However, these positions should have been listed in the Match regardless, and now will be. This constituted a technical Match violation, and is a result of a misunderstanding on the part of the University of Louisville House Staff Office, the Department of Urology, and the Department of Surgery regarding the Match regulations. but will not effect the application process nor the quality or integrity of our General Surgery Residency program. The match violation red flag will be removed in one year. While we will continue to do everything possible to ensure that we are in compliance with the NRMP regulations, please be assured that this technical violation has no bearing on the quality and integrity of our outstanding categorical General Surgery Residency Program. Thank you for your interest in our program. We will be happy to answer any questions regarding this issue.