All residents are expected to participate in research and scholarly activity during their training. There are ongoing research projects in every division and section in the Department of Surgery with faculty ready to mentor our residents. A department wide research club helps provide the infrastructure and resources to start new projects. We also offer an opportunity for one resident per class to take clinical time off and complete 2 years of research.
Research Productivity
General surgery residents are active in research projects throughout the department, including clinical, translational, basic science, health services, and education research. For example, recent resident-led projects include:
Clinical outcomes of total neoadjuvant therapy compared to perioperative therapy in locally advanced rectal cancer (PI: Bridget Fahy)
Gender microaggression experiences of operating room staff and male surgeons (PI: Frances Alba)
Development of hydrogen sulfide-eluting biocompatible scaffold matrix for use in angiogenesis and wound healing (PI: Ross Clark)
Serum microRNA signatures for detection of high-grade dysplasia and invasive carcinoma in patients with intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas (PI: Ben Ferguson)
Impact of virtual curriculum structure on clinical knowledge acquisition of surgery clerkship students due to the COVID-19 pandemic (PI: Ming-Li Wang)
The residency program averages 5-10 papers and more than 20 presentations at national and regional meetings per year. Our senior residents have published over 40 papers during their training here. Residents in our program have published their work in Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, Surgery, Journal of Surgical Research, Journal of Surgical Oncology, Annals of Vascular Surgery, and Journal of Pediatric Surgery, among many others. Resident research is highlighted at the Annual Surgery and Ophthalmology Research Symposium held every June.
Research Club
The UNM Department of Surgery Research Club meets monthly and is open to all surgery faculty, trainees, students, and staff. This is a department-wide multidisciplinary lab meeting to discuss new research, ongoing projects, interesting findings, and troubleshooting. Our Research Club meetings frequently feature talks from research staff across Health System and University resources, including IRB, biostatistics, trial design, bioinformatics, grants office, and research ethics.
Research Opportunities
A public directory of over 50 surgery research projects is maintained by the department in order to easily identify available research mentors, track ongoing projects and productivity, and facilitate areas of academic interest. We also offer an opportunity for one resident per class to take clinical time off and complete 2 years of research, either at UNM or through an off-site program. In recent years, research residents have conducted dedicated research time with the UNM Vascular and Endothelial Surgical Sciences Laboratory (VESSL), UNM Learning Environment Office (LEO), University of Texas at Houston, and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Several residents have also obtained advanced degrees during this time, including Master of Educational Philosophy, Master of Science in Clinical Research, and Master of Business Administration.
We hold an annual Department of Surgery Research Symposium at the end of every academic year. Projects from across the department are presented by faculty, residents and fellows, and medical students. The 8th annual Surgery Research Symposium was held on June 24, 2022. We had 11 podium presentations and almost 50 posters. Please click this link to view the program.
