Department Overview

The Department of Surgery offers ten first-year positions as a surgical house officer through the National Residency Matching Program. Three of the first-year positions are categorical general surgery positions, two are Air Force categorical general surgery positions, three are one-year preliminary positions, one position is a categorical integrated plastic surgery position matched through the integrated Plastic Surgery Program. The postgraduate surgical curriculum meets and exceeds the guidelines and requirements recommended by the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Surgery and the American Board of Surgery.

Research and Funded Projects

There are several grant-funded projects within the department, including traffic safety research, the prevention of colorectal anastomosis failure with the finite element model (FEM) validated with the ex-vivo (outside the living body) model, and the transanal resection of rectal lesions with the ColumbrisMX Endoluminal Surgical System.

Traffic Safety Research

The main priority of the traffic safety research group is to help improve Nevada’s traffic safety for all road users. Primary research includes the Nevada Road Users Linked Database Research and the Statistical Transparency of Policing (STOP) projects. Research findings are shared with the public via social media infographics, fact sheets, newsletters, presentations, reports, data dashboards, and publications. This research helps identify priority areas for injury prevention and informs legislative initiatives that will impact the safety of Nevada road users.

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FEM and EX-Vivo Model

This project aims to develop reproducible ex-vivo and finite element models (FEM) that can understand, predict, and eventually prevent the failure of colorectal anastomoses. We plan to develop a finite element modeling approach to simulate these two types of anastomoses. This project has the potential to change the way colorectal surgery is practiced, improving patient outcomes.