General Surgery Residency

Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency

"Welcome to the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency

Danbury Hospital is now a part of Northwell Health; A 28-hospital clinical network in New York and Connecticut. Founded in 1885 and starting off as a small community hospital; Danbury Hospital now is a 456 bed non- profit tertiary care medical center providing state of the art medical and surgical care for the local community and neighboring regions in the Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut. The hospital has over 3,300 employees and sees approximately 64,000 patient visits and 1500 traumas annually at the Anna – Maria and Stephen Keller Emergency Department (an American College of Surgeons (ACS) – designated Level II Trauma Center and Primary Stroke Center). Our 6-year residency program housed primarily at Danbury with rotations at New Milford Hospital, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center (CCMC) and Northshore University / Long Island Jewish Hospital (NS – LIJ) provides a robust clinical and academic environment to train the next generation of surgeons. We are approved to graduate 4 categorical chief residents per year. We also offer 4 preliminary positions (3 PGY1 and 1 PGY2).

1000 + cases are performed on an annual basis at Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital, a part of the Danbury Hospital Campus. Surgical services include general and minimally invasive surgery, trauma and acute care surgery, surgical oncology, colon and rectal surgery, vascular surgery, surgical critical care, breast and endocrine surgery, pediatric surgery at CCMC and transplant at NS – LIJ. Residents get a wide variety of experience across all services and graduate with well over the required number of cases. Being a robotic center of excellence, residents get early exposure to robotics and minimally invasive surgery.

We are the CT clinical branch campus of the Larner College of Medicine at The University of Vermont, which allows our residents to serve as resident educators to 3rd and 4th year medical students and prepares them for an academic career if they so choose. We also cater to medical students from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) and Ross University School of Medicine.

Residents participate in a year of clinical/basic science research after their 2nd year of training. In addition, our monthly journal club fosters an active environment to review literature and understand the science behind clinical practice."

Ramanathan M. Seshadri, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Program Director, General Surgery Residency Program

Training Locations

Danbury Hospital

Danbury Hospital is a 456-bed acute care hospital that offers award-winning patient care. For more than 130 years, the hospital has delivered mission-driven services to the community. We are committed to providing safe, convenient care to meet your personal healthcare needs. We have earned the distinction of being designated a Level II Trauma Center by The American College of Surgeons.

We are part of Nuvance Health™, a network of seven hospitals and numerous outpatient facilities in the Hudson Valley and Western Connecticut. Our patients benefit from the various multispecialty groups and services across the system.
Danbury Hospital features advanced technologies, making us a destination for innovative services.

The hospital offers both minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery and is designated by the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) as a Robotic Center of Excellence.

Danbury Hospital earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval as a Primary Stroke Center and offers highly advanced cardiac and vascular care. Other features include a state-of-the-art Level III NICU and compassionate psychiatric care, including a partial-hospitalization program.

New Milford Hospital

For the past 100 years, the team at New Milford Hospital has been caring for residents throughout Litchfield County. We have a tradition of providing warm and personal attention in a local setting.

We are part of Nuvance Health™, a network of seven hospitals and numerous outpatient facilities throughout western Connecticut and across the Hudson Valley. Our patients benefit from the various services and multispecialty groups across Nuvance Health.

New Milford Hospital, a part of the Danbury Hospital Campus, offers an unusual combination of top-notch physicians, world-class technology and advanced diagnostic and treatment options. We provide these services in a setting that is not only close to home but feels like home.

The physicians, nurses and support staff are passionate about caring for you. New Milford Hospital is a destination for advanced surgical services including minimally invasive orthopedics and spine surgery. The hospital also offers advanced diagnostics and treatment for cancer, and cardiac and neurosciences care.

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center

Connecticut Children’s Medical Center is a nationally recognized, 187-bed not-for-profit children’s hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best children’s hospitals in the nation, we foster a patient- and family-centered environment with a focus on research, education and advocacy.

Connecticut Children’s serves as the primary pediatric teaching hospital for the UConn School of Medicine, has a teaching partnership with the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University and is a research partner of The Jackson Laboratory.

Connecticut Children’s welcomes, cares for and protects all children who walk through our doors. We are an institution of acceptance and compassion regardless of nationality or immigration status.

With a medical staff of more than 1,000 practicing in more than 30 specialties, Connecticut Children’s is a tertiary referral center that provides outstanding care to children of all ages affected by a wide range of conditions.

Women in Surgery Initiative

The general surgery residency program at Danbury Hospital is committed to support our female surgery residents during training. The Women in Surgery initiative was designed with the goal to encourage and help our female residents achieve their professional and personal goals during residency. We foster mentoring and peer support, and embrace diversity. In addition to our monthly meetings, which are designed to address issues affecting women surgeons today, and to promote a healthy work-life balance each female resident is provided with membership to the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS), https://www.womensurgeons.org/.

Diversity in Surgery Visiting Sub-Internship Program

Recognizing the positive impact of a diverse surgical workforce in improving access to healthcare and patient outcomes, the Department of Surgery at Danbury Hospital is pleased to announce the establishment of our Diversity Visiting Student Sub-Internship Scholarship.

This program will support a funded, 4-week sub-internship in general surgery for 4th year medical students from diverse backgrounds at Danbury Hospital. The program is open to applicants who belong to groups that are underrepresented from a social, economic, or educational perspective in surgery. A 4-week rotation will be offered from June-October in a variety of surgical specialties.

The student(s) will be assigned to a surgical team of their preference, and will participate in all aspects of patient care, including in the operating room, and in the in-patient and outpatient settings. The student(s) will attend all educational conferences with the surgical residents. They will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with the general surgery residency program leadership and will be assigned to a resident mentor for the duration of their experience.

Interested students should submit a brief statement of interest (350 words), a curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendations to Dr. Susana Vargas-Pinto, Associate Program Director, Surgery Residency Program, susana.vargas-pinto@nuvancehealth.org

FAQs

Q: What are the application requirements for the Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency Program?

• Current Curriculum Vitae
• 3 Letters of recommendation
• Personal Statement
• Medical School Transcripts
• USMLE Scores
• ABSITE (American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination) Scores, if applicable
• ECFMG Certificate, if applicable
• Visa Status, if applicable

Q: How is your program structured?
A: There are 4 categorical residents per clinical year.  In addition to this, we have 3 non-designated preliminary intern positions.  Currently, 58 out of 60 months are in rotations at Danbury Hospital. A 1 month Pediatric Surgery rotation is done at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, CT. Both these away rotations are done in the PGY3 year.

Q: Can I visit your program to look at the hospital and speak with people in person?
A:  Due to health concerns with the ongoing CoVid-19 pandemic (including concerns about new variants), no in-person interviews or visits (“second looks”) are currently being conducted at Nuvance Health.  This is also in compliance with the request from the AAMC and recommendation from the APDS that the 2021-2022 Residency Application process is done virtually across the nation.

In addition to minimizing the national spread of CoVid-19, this creates a “level playing field” for any applicant who cannot travel due to personal health, school travel restrictions, or limitations from personal financial resources.  We understand the value of seeing the people and place you are thinking about spending a significant portion of your life.  The current decision for a virtual-only interview process this year was made with the health of our community and nation in mind as well as the goal of improving equity for all our applicants.  We will revisit in-person interviews and coordinated visits for the 2022-2023 season.

We, of course, cannot prevent any individual from coming to Danbury to see the community.  We, however, will not coordinate nor sanction any in-person meeting with any of the residents or faculty, nor facilitate any visits to Danbury Hospital.

Q: Do interns get to operate?
A: Yes!  The expectation is that interns will be operating at both the Surgeon Junior and First Assistant levels throughout the year.  The average number of Surgeon Junior cases performed by interns is approximately 100 each year.

Q: What is the call schedule like?
A: Except for the ICU, all teaching surgical services operate under a Night Float system.  The current Night Float schedule is a 14 hour shift on Sunday-Thursday nights.  Each level of resident will have 1-2 months of Night Float per year.  This leaves 24 hour calls on Friday and Saturday and a 10 hour call on Sunday day.  On average each resident who is not on Night Float will have one Friday, one Saturday, and one Sunday call per month.  Many residents request the Friday and Sunday-day calls to be on the same week, creating two completely free weekends off per month.

Q: What exactly is the relationship between Danbury Hospital and the University of Vermont?
A: Danbury Hospital, in combination with Norwalk Hospital and New Milford Hospital, constitute a second branch campus for the University of Vermont, the Connecticut Clinical Branch Campus.  Medical students enrolled in this branch campus spend the first 2 didactic years of medical school in Burlington, Vermont.  They then spend their clinical rotation years at the Connecticut Branch hospitals.  Surgery residents at Danbury Hospital receive appointments as Clinical Instructors at the University of Vermont.  The surgical residencies at Danbury Hospital and the University of Vermont (Burlington) are completely separate.

Q: What is the difference between the Danbury Hospital Surgery Residency and the Health Quest Surgery Residency?
A: Danbury Hospital and Vassar Brothers Medical Center (where the Health Quest residency is based) are part of the same clinical network, Nuvance Health.  The two residencies are completely separate, although there are faculty members who operate at both sites and independently work with residents from both programs.

Q: What are your score requirements for the USMLE and ABSITE?
A: The Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency Program does not have strict minimum requirements as we have a holistic approach to application review.

Q: Am I still eligible to apply to your program if I have not taken the ABSITE?
A: Yes

Q: Am I still eligible to apply to your program if I have only taken steps 1 and 2 of the USMLE?
A: Yes

Q: Do you participate in ERAS and NRMP?
A: Yes.

Q: Will you accept an applicant who has not participated in ERAS and NRMP?
A: No

Q: Are you participating in the ERAS secondary application pilot for general surgery this year?
A: Yes we are.  Applicants are encouraged but not required to complete the secondary application.

Q: Does the Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency Program accept applications from foreign medical graduates?
A: Yes

Q: Does the Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency Program sponsor visas?
A: Yes, H1B visas are sponsored by Danbury Hospital on a limited basis.

Q: Are there any other visas the Danbury Hospital General Surgery Residency Program will accept?
A: Yes, the J1 visa through ECFMG