Service Descriptions

General, Bariatrics, & Minimally Invasive Surgery – UHS

Surgery services at University Hospital that primarily deal with biliary disease, hernias, pancreatic, and other ‘bread-and-butter’ general surgery. Faculty: Drs. Hartmann, Kempenich, Sirinek, and Van Sickle (Division Chief).

Colorectal Surgery – UHS

Surgery services at University Hospital that primarily deal with colorectal disease. Faculty: Drs. Dao and Logue.

General Surgery – Westover Hills

Dr. Sideman performs vascular surgery in a private practice setting.

General Surgery – Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center

A private rotation in the medical center, this is a rotation that will cover surgical cases performed by UTHSCSA surgeons Drs. Dao, Hartmann, Kempenich, Logue, Sirinek, and Van Sickle. Rotation experience includes general, bariatric and colorectal surgery.

General Surgery – VA Hospital

This service performs all general and colorectal surgery as well as endoscopy at the VA. Faculty: Drs. Coleman, Ledesma, Nicholl, Schad, and Perry (Division Chief).

Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

Performs endocrine, head and neck, breast, and other surgical oncology cases at UHS. Faculty: Drs. Calvo-Strube, Jatoi, Kitano (Interim Division Chief), and Tozzi.

Trauma and Emergency Surgery and Surgical Intensive Care Unit

Trauma is responsible for the ER surgery consults, any surgery required within 24 hours of admission (other than gallbladder disease which is managed by GS-UHS), and, of course, trauma. This service also covers the SICU, which is responsible for ventilator management, central line placement, PEG/trach, nutrition access and so forth. Faculty: Cestero, Crane, Dent, Eastridge (Division Chief), Jenkins, Liao, McGinity, Mueller, Muir, Myers, Nicholson, Scherer, and Stewart.

Vascular Surgery – University Hospital and VA Hospital

Performs all open and endovascular surgery at UH and VA including dialysis access. Faculty: Drs. Bacharach, Brahmbhatt, Davies (Division Chief), Dayama, Hashmi, Hart, Miserlis, Pounds, Shireman, and Sideman.

Cardiothoracic – UH

This service performs CABG, valve replacement surgery, aortic reconstruction, heart and lung transplant and lung surgery (open and video-assisted) as well as chest tube management for many services. Faculty: Drs. Calhoon (Department Chair), Carpenter, DeArmond, Johnson, and Sako.

Cardiothoracic – VA

Provides comprehensive surgical care for diseases involving the heart, lungs, esophagus, chest wall, and thoracic aorta. The VA Hospital is staffed by active duty military surgeons that also provide care at the San Antonio Military Medical Center. The service provides an opportunity to care for critically ill patients throughout the entire hospital stay with direct faculty supervision. Faculty: Dr. Eppinger.

Skills Lab

A dedicated, 4-week skills lab rotation in which interns develop technical skills including suturing and knot-tying, laparoscopic camera navigation, central lines, intraosseous lines, airway management, code management, fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery, vascular and bowel anastomoses. PGY1s complete this rotation. Faculty: Dr. Willis with help from numerous faculty and research residents.

Click here for more information about the Skills Lab.

Pediatric Surgery

This rotation with 7 board-certified pediatric surgeons provides a broad exposure to pediatric general surgery, including congenital abnormalities, pediatric oncology, non-cardiac thoracic surgery, childhood and adolescent gynecologic issues, as well as common pediatric issues. It is centered at Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, with additional clinical exposure at Methodist Children’s Hospital, University Hospital, and private practice offices. Faculty: Drs. Cofer, Doski, Kidd, Mitchell, Nice, Robertson and Thomas.

Transplant

Very busy transplant service (top 10 nationally for liver transplant volume) that primarily deals with liver and kidney transplant with occasional pancreas transplant. Also involves complex hepatobiliary cases. Good exposure to transplant ICU patients. Faculty: Drs. Abrahamian, Cigarroa (Division Chief), Esterl, Fritze, Halff, Klair, and Thomas.

General Surgery – Methodist

This is a private practice rotation in the San Antonio Medical Center with the adjunct faculty at General Surgical Associates of San Antonio. This is a broad general surgery practice with many opportunities for advanced minimally invasive surgery cases. PGY2, PGY3, and PGY4 residents rotate on this service. Faculty: Drs. Cheek, Gurwitz, Hollway, Shary, Vargas, Weakley, and Woodard.

Endocrine – Methodist

Residents spend a month rotating with Dr. Santillan-Gomez and his private practice patients at Methodist Hospital.

Thoracic – Methodist

Residents spend a month rotating with Dr. Guajardo Salinas and his private practice patients at Methodist Hospital.

Vascular – St. Luke’s Hospital

Residents spend a month rotating with Dr. Toursarkissian and his private practice patients at St. Luke’s Hospital.

Christus Santa Rosa New Braunfels

This is a private practice rotation in New Braunfels, TX. Located approximately 45 minutes North of San Antonio, New Braunfels is a relatively small town which gives residents experience with surgery teams and patients in a more rural setting. PGY4 residents rotate on this service. Faculty: Dr. Rossbach.