Welcome Message from the Program Director

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Surgical Residency Program at Hackensack University Medical Center. We have a long tradition of helping to train exceptional surgeons and now we have a remarkable opportunity to be a new surgical residency program. We are embarking on this endeavor in conjunction with the newest medical school in New Jersey, the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine. We are an ACGME accredited Surgical Residency and we train 5 categorical residents per year with a total complement of 27 residents including 2 preliminary PGY 1 positions. Our inaugural residency class started July 1, 2019. The founding faculty and I have designed an innovative curriculum that enhances the essential elements of experiential adult learning in a state of the art hospital, utilizing innovative technology. Our academic and clinical surgical curriculum covers the essential content areas of surgery within a 2-year cycle. We will utilize and reference the Surgical Council on Resident Education’s (SCORE) curriculum during the individual rotations and didactics.

Our educational strategies provide visual, oral, and hands-on learning opportunities based on principles of adult learning including didactic lectures, interactive Web-based materials, reading assignments, simulation training, skills labs and teaching rounds on the in-patient units and in the outpatient settings. Dedicated and protected time for educational activities is set aside each week on Tuesday mornings and residents are required to attend these sessions. The conferences times allow post call residents to participate and comply with work hours.

Residents are required to participate in clinical research as well as participate in a quality improvement project during residency. Some resident will be able to extend their training and take a 1 to 2 year research fellowship.

A successful residency program places the resident first. We encourage our residents to be intimately involved in the evaluation, review and promotion process and rely upon constant feedback from them to create ongoing, positive changes. We believe that residents who shape their program remain active learners throughout their careers and become leaders at their future institutions.

On behalf of the founding faculty, I welcome you to discover what Hackensack University Medical Center offers and invite you to be part of our new surgical residency family.

Burton Surick, MD FACS
Program Director Surgical Residency
Hackensack University Medical Center
Professor in the Department of General Surgery
Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine