The Trauma Service is one of the foremost programs in the country. The Trauma/Critical Care Fellowship Program continues to thrive despite a national decline in physician interest in trauma surgery as a career. Our nationally recognized training program offers a one- or two-year postgraduate training program in Trauma, Burn, Emergency General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. The Surgical Critical Care program is accredited by the American Board of Surgery. Numerous fellows have completed the program and are in academic trauma surgery throughout the country.

Department of Surgery physicians are an integral part of the Trauma Institute at University Hospital - the region's only Level I Trauma Center and Burn Center. Specialized care, services, equipment and staff stand ready to treat serious trauma injuries. Admitting more than 2,400 trauma patients per year in addition to emergency general surgery patients, the Trauma Service holds true to the original concept as an emergency surgery service that began more than 60 years ago. The majority of these patients are blunt trauma patients (80 percent) and nearly 60 percent come from the scene, most from the metropolitan Louisville area. The remaining 40 percent of patients are transferred from more than 70 referring hospitals in the region.

The Trauma Center facilities include 14 trauma/surgical ICU beds, five burn beds, 24-hour dedicated operating room, 49 critical care beds and outpatient clinics. The Burn Unit features five intensive care treatment beds and is the area's only adult burn unit in the state.