St. Anthony - General Surgery Residency

The St. Anthony Hospital is the main hub for the residency within the CommonSpirit Health system and is located in Lakewood, CO. St. Anthony, a Level 1 trauma center, combines a heritage of expert care with the latest in technology and innovation.

St. Anthony Hospital has 11 operating rooms, including Trauma Room 10, and a hybrid endovascular operating room. A day surgery unit is currently under construction and will add more operating rooms to our hospital when completed. There are two surgical systems where residents can practice and refine robotic surgical skills in the main operating room.

Our physicians and clinical staff play a vital role in training our residents by providing opportunities to participate in journal club, surgical skills modules and weekly didactic session, acute care surgery morbidity and mortality, and trauma morbidity and mortality. In addition, residents rotate through St. Anthony Hospital, Children's Hospital Colorado, Porter Adventist Hospital, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Denver Health Medical Center, and the VA Medical Center.

Residency program applications are accepted and reviewed through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Each year a total of 2 residents are appointed to the program.

Application requirements:

• Application
• Personal Statement
• Dean’s letter and three letters of recommendation submitted through ERAS - applications are considered incomplete until all documents are received
• Medical School transcript from an accredited DO or MD medical school
• COMLEX level 1 and 2, or USMLE step 1 and 2 are accepted
• First attempt pass required
• We are unable to sponsor applicants requiring a visa

Strong preference will be given to DO, or MD applicants who are eligible to obtain full licensure in the state of Colorado at the end of the PGY-1 year in training.

• The Colorado Board of Medical Examiners requires one year of postgraduate US education for US and Canadian graduates and requires three years postgraduate US education for international graduates before licensure may be granted. If you have questions regarding Colorado licensure, contact the Board of Medical Examiners.

Phone: 303-894-7690

Interview Information:

• Applications are reviewed by mid-October. Applications received after November 1st will only be reviewed if a second round of application review is necessary.
• Interviews are scheduled late October through early January
• The interview process includes:Interviews with Program Director, current residents, and attending surgeons
  • Campus tours
  • Personal tours of the campus will be made available to candidates if so desired after the formal interview process
  • Sample Contract (for illustrative purposes only)
  • We appoint up to two residents per year

The interview process may be subject to a virtual setting depending on pandemic restrictions.

For activities to explore during your visit to Colorado, visit Explore Colorado.

We do not offer audition rotations at this time. However, we hope to launch this program in academic year 2024-2025 - please check back.

The St. Anthony Medical Campus is the main hub for the residency within the CommonSpirit Health system and is located in Lakewood, Colorado. St. Anthony (Level 1 Trauma Center) combines a heritage of expert care with the latest in technology and innovation. In addition to the hospital, our medical campus offers OrthoColorado Hospital - the only orthopedic specialty hospital in the region, plus, our three Medical Office Plazas where you'll find the St. Anthony Breast Center, Cancer Center, Senior Health Center and more.

Trauma Room 10 (T-10) at St. Anthony Hospital is Colorado’s first dedicated trauma-operating suite that enables critically injured patients to go directly to the operating theater upon their arrival with EMS (including Flight For Life® Colorado). The T-10 suite is fully equipped and ready at all times to accept seriously injured trauma patients who may need emergency surgery – including dedicated radiology, EKG, lab, and other services. The high-speed dedicated elevator provides even faster access to this field-to-surgery suite.

St. Anthony Hospital is recognized internationally as an innovative leader in trauma system development, emergency transport, intensivist teamwork, sub-specialty intensive care unit operation, and physician-through-paramedic education. It's service to Colorado, the Rocky Mountain region, and the world spans more than 125 years, confirming its place among the nation’s first sites for shock trauma care, creating a unique environment for our residency program.

St. Anthony Hospital is a showcase of some of the most advanced technology and smart building features including:

• 10 Surgical suites, including a Hybrid operating room.
• Private patient rooms - specialized patient lifting devices enhance safety and comfort, this is a place designed for extraordinary patient care.
• Customized elevator - speeds trauma patients from the helipad to our unique T-10 field-to-surgery suite in just three seconds.

St. Anthony Hospital is a full-service, acute care hospital with specialties including:

• Cardiology program and rapid response heart attack care - St. Anthony Hospital is treating heart attacks 38 minutes faster than the national average and is recognized nationally among leading agencies including the American Heart Association.
• Comprehensive Stroke Center - Our stroke program holds a Gold Seal of Approval from the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and has earned the 2016 American Heart Association and American Stroke Association Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.
• Emergency care and Level I Shock Trauma Center - We are equipped with a dedicated trauma room, T-10, which is the only surgical suite of its kind in Colorado. We also operate Flight for Life® Colorado, providing emergency air transport throughout the Rocky Mountain Region.
• Cancer and oncology - St. Anthony Hospital has a combined radiotherapy technology system.
• Breast Center – Nationally accredited breast center offering 3D Tomosynthesis, the latest in mammography technology.
• Neurosurgery and neurology specialties through the Neurosciences Center - Our neuroscience program offers an exceptional degree of multidisciplinary collaboration from a medical team that includes expert doctors, radiologists, specially trained nurses and rehabilitation specialists along with the latest technology.
• Minimally invasive surgery - allowing surgeons to perform even the most complex and delicate procedures such as prostatectomy, colectomies, complex hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction and more through very small incisions with unmatched precision. We have two robots and one training console, with second training console coming soon.
• Sleep Disorders Center - State-of-the-art sleep clinic and board-certified sleep doctors to diagnose all types of sleep disorders including sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome and more.

Hospitals residents will rotate at include:

• Porter Adventist Hospital (Denver, CO)
• Summit Medical Center (Frisco, CO)
• Avista Adventist Hospital (Louisville, CO)
• Children’s Hospital (Aurora, CO)
• University of Colorado (Aurora, CO)
• Denver Health Medical Center (Denver, CO)
• VA Medical Center (Aurora, CO)

Workspace:

• St. Anthony houses a spacious residency office and learning area.
• Each resident has their own desk and computer system.
• Electronic health records - EPIC is used at all CommonSpirit hospitals, and residents have remote access.
• Dragon dictaphones are provided

Our program is accredited with the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Our curriculum reflects the ACGME and the American Board of Surgery (ABS) requirements.

As described by ACGME, we expect our graduating residents to be competent in six areas.

It is necessary to master knowledge specific to diseases and operations when caring for the surgical patient. However, knowledge of systems and conditions that affect the body as a whole, such as sepsis or coagulopathy, must also be learned. Our program encourages the Resident to care for the whole patient not just the surgical issue.

Rotation

The Resident will be assigned to a service/specialty for one month. Duty hours will vary based on the preceptors’ schedule, surgery schedule and other factors. Residents will also be expected to attend conferences and committee meetings as mentioned in the Conferences section. One half day minimum of clinic is required each week during every rotation.

View an EXAMPLE of a block schedule.

Duty hours

Each resident in the program will document by program completion, participation, under appropriate supervision, a minimum of 850 major surgical procedures, as surgeon or first assistant. Of these 850 procedures, each resident should average 170 cases per year.

Resident work hours are in compliance with the guidelines established by ACGME and will be limited to 80 hours per week averaged over a four-week period, inclusive of in-house night call and any allowed moonlighting. Residents will be provided one in seven days free from all educational and clinical responsibilities- averaged over a four-week period and shall have no call responsibility during the time. When vacation time is taken, it will be averaged over a three-week period. Residents shall not work in excess of 24 consecutive hours with an additional 4 hours allowed (PGY+) for transitions of patient care must occur for patient safety and resident education.

The Program provides regularly scheduled conferences and teaching opportunities at which each resident’s attendance is expected.

Residents are encouraged to make every effort to attend as many conferences as possible.

Provided educational resources:

• Free access to SCORE (Surgical Council on Resident Education) curriculum and question banks
• ClinicalKey textbooks and articles (while on CommonSpirit network)
• Robust reimbursable education stipend for books, conferences, loupes and other approved spending.

A general description of conferences follows:

• Weekly Didactic Sessions: Didactics cover the full spectrum of general surgery in accordance with the SCORE curriculum . Faculty and volunteer specialists provide occasional guest lectures year-round. Residents are required to attend in person when at St. Anthony, and virtually when rotating at other hospitals.
• Trauma Morbidity and Mortality Conference: This conference meets weekly with the St. Anthony Trauma Services department and has multidisciplinary attendance. The goal of this conference is to review adverse events and learning points as well as review outcomes and care of patients admitted to the Trauma Service. Cases are reviewed in a supportive environment identifying systems that could be improved, current treatment guidelines and potential learning opportunities.
• General Surgery Morbidity and Mortality Conference (Acute Care Surgery and Elective General Surgery): This resident led conference occurs monthly. Residents present patients, discuss potential errors, outcomes improvement, and current literature for best practices. 
• Clinic: Each resident required to attend an average of one-half day of specialty clinic per week. This will take place on all rotations, including trauma.
• Robotic training: The robotic training program is required for all residents. Weekly block time is available for simulator training. Residents will graduate with a certificate of robotic system training for residents.
• Simulation training: Resident Sim Lab is available 24/7 for training in Fundamentals of Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgery. 

The surgery residency at St. Anthony Hospital is sponsored by Kansas City University. KCU is a private university with many medical colleges including the College of Osteopathic Medicine, which was founded in 1916, and is the largest medical school in Missouri. If you have questions please email gme@kansascity.edu