Clinical: Year 3 & 4

Program Description

The clinical rotations in surgery aim to provide students with the skills they will need to work as part of a larger healthcare team and to develop other skills that they will require as their careers progress. We endorse the learning objectives associated with the seven CanMEDs 'roles'. While many of the objectives listed in this document relate to the 'Medical Expert Role', we consider the other CanMEDS to be of equal importance.

Although medical students cannot be expected to address all of these roles in their undergraduate training, we hope to work alongside other clinical rotations to help students begin to address these roles as they prepare to progress into postgraduate training.


Year 3: SURG546 General Surgery

Clerkship Coordinator - Dr. Ioana Bratu
Clerkship Administrator - Diane Osborne

Educational Goals and Program Description

The third year program in general surgery is intended to build on students' knowledge of the structure and function of the body acquired in pre-clinical education, and to allow them to refine the history-taking and examination skills that they were introduced to in years 1 and 2.

This six-week program aims to help the student to develop skills to manage their own learning, along with clinical and practical skills. Students will be introduced to the principles of the practice of surgery and will learn about the surgical treatment of the common disorders of the following parts of the body: the abdomen, the gastrointestinal tract, the biliary tree, the liver, spleen and pancreas, the appendix, the colon, rectum and anus, the thorax, the breast and the endocrine system. Students should also learn about the principles of surgery in children. Instructional methods employed include: surgeon and/or team based clinical rotations, seminars, reading lists and online resources. Assessment methods used include: surgeon's assessment of student, multiple choice examination, an OSCE and a reflective assignment.

Contact Email: SURG546@ualberta.ca  


Year 4: SURG556 Specialty Surgery

Clerkship Coordinator - Dr Andrew Rasmussen
Clerkship Administrator - Hannah Quedado

Educational Goals and Program Description

A four-week program. Students select four rotations (one week each) from the following eight specialties:

  • Cardiac Surgery
  • Neurosurgery
  • Orthopaedics
  • Otolaryngology
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Urology
  • Thoracic Surgery
  • Vascular Surgery
  • Urogynecology (Pilot for 2024-2025)
  • Gynecological Oncology (Pilot for 2024-2025)

Students are expected to complete learning objectives from all eight (now ten for 2024-2025) specialties, with clinical exposure to 2 or 4 specialties. Students will learn how these specialties interact with the general practitioner's care of a patient, as well as have exposure to specialized operations in the assigned specialties. Instructional methods employed include: surgeon-based clinical rotations, seminars, reading lists and online resources. Assessment methods used include: surgeon's assessment of student, multiple choice examination and a case presentation.

Contact Email: SURG556@ualberta.ca