Training Facilities

General Surgery residents experience a broad spectrum of general surgery.

Academic Surgery

Residents will spend most of their time at University Hospital, our primary teaching facility, where they will experience academic surgery in an urban environment at a busy county hospital. But it’s not all trauma and ‘charity hospital’ work. Residents also get valuable experience working in private practice environments in an urban setting by rotating through local private hospitals, including CHRISTUS Santa Rosa hospitals in San Antonio, St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital in the South Texas Medical Center.

General Surgery private practice in an urban environment

Residents gain private practice experience in General Surgery (General Surgical Associates of San Antonio), endocrine surgery (Alfredo Santillan-Gomez, M.D.), and thoracic surgery (Gustavo Guajardo Salinas, M.D.).

General Surgery private practice in a rural environment

Additionally, residents experience private practice in a rural environment by rotating at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital in New Braunfels.

University Hospital

University Hospital’s Level I trauma center serves a 22-county region of South Texas – an area of almost 27,000 square miles – providing comprehensive care to many of the most critically injured patients from Bexar County, South Texas and beyond. UT Trauma faculty and residents staff the trauma center 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

With 713 beds, University Hospital serves the Bexar County population and referred private patients of the Health Science Center faculty. All surgical staff are full-time UTHSCSA faculty. A Level I trauma center, the hospital provides state-of-the-art health care and spans the range of medical, surgical, obstetrical, and pediatric specialties. Critical care facilities include several specialized intensive care units, including the largest neonatal ICU and a cardiac catheterization laboratory with full intervention and electrophysiology capabilities. Other specialized facilities include a comprehensive endoscopy center for bronchoscopy and gastrointestinal procedures including ERCP, esophageal studies, and advanced non-invasive cardiac imaging. Radiology resources include CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, and interventional facilities. University Hospital is an active center for bone marrow and solid organ transplantation. The Reeves Rehabilitation Center, a comprehensive rehabilitation unit, specializes in the treatment of patients recovering from various neurologic, cardiac, and pulmonary disorders.

South Texas Veterans Health Care System

Located across the street from University Hospital, Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital (VA) provides rotations in General Surgery, Peripheral Vascular Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Head and Neck Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Neurosurgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Endocrine Surgery, Urology, and Endoscopy. All staff physicians are full-time UTHSCSA faculty. Approximately 3,600 elective surgical procedures are performed yearly at the VA. Although a small number of surgical procedures are performed after hours, all trauma patients are referred and treated at University Hospital. All patients are seen pre- and postoperatively in contiguous outpatient facilities. The VA facility provides an older patient population with complex medical and surgical disease processes, although there are ample patients with more common surgical problems such as inguinal hernia.

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa – Medical Center

One of CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health Care’s two acute care hospitals is CHRISTUS Santa Rosa – Medical Center, which opened in 1986 in the South Texas Medical Center. This 200 bed hospital brings together the advanced innovations of a new age in medicine and the time-honored values of the system’s heritage in health care. It has a 24-hour emergency room, intensive care to all types of surgery and after care, diagnostics and radiology techniques, and a Mother & Baby Center. Adjacent to CHRISTUS Santa Rosa – Medical Center is CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Rehabilitation Hospital – bringing full circle the patient’s complete care for their condition and rehabilitation to help them return and adapt as needed to their lives.

The multi-million dollar renovations at CHRISTUS Santa Rosa – Medical Center have resulted in new units featuring state-of-the-art equipment and beautiful surroundings. Even though CHRISTUS Santa Rosa – Medical Center is a relatively new facility, it is undergoing extensive renovations making it one of the most advanced hospitals in the area. These upgrades are also transforming CHRISTUS Santa Rosa – Medical Center into a more comfortable, and beautiful facility that could pass for a luxury hotel. Our patients often comment on the individualized care and the homey atmosphere of the facility. Wood floors, comfortable furniture, and special decorative appointments allow our patients to feel more comfortable in a hospital environment. And, the hospital staff care for their patients as if they were members of their own family.

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital – Downtown

Serving more than 150,000 children each year, CSRCH is a 200-plus bed facility and is the only academic Children’s hospital in San Antonio, partnering with The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio while collaborating with private pediatricians to provide comprehensive pediatric services at one location since 1959. From neonatal intensive care to Children’s emergency services, titanium rib implants, a heart program especially designed for children, respite care and a specialized asthma program, CSRCH continues to provide quality, innovative care specifically designed to meet the unique needs of children.

CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital – New Braunfels 

The rotation at CHRISTUS New Braunfels provides residents with an opportunity to treat patients from a smaller community than San Antonio. About 45 minutes away from UTHSCSA, in New Braunfels, Texas, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa New Braunfels is a 132-bed hospital, is a full-service Hospital with state-of-the-art technology offering a full scope of specialized services including cardiology services, women’s services, surgical services, rehabilitation services, imaging services, ICU, and 24/7 emergency services.

St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital

Located in the South Texas Medical Center, St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital opened in 1978 and offers a beautiful women’s center with all private rooms for new mothers, surgical services, orthopedics, rehabilitation and more. Also offers an accredited Chest Pain Center, Level III neonatal ICU, Brain and Stroke Network.

Johnson Center for Surgical Innovation

The Johnson Center for Surgical Innovation is a state-of-the-art simulation center available to all surgical residents 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year.