Research Opportunities for Residents

There is a strong tradition of research among the residents at the University of Virginia.  All residents are required to participate in at least one month of dedicated research time.  Some residents may elect to spend a single month during the third clinical year.  Most residents spend one to three years working in a basic or clinical science laboratory.  Some even seize the opportunity to receive a Masters in Public Health or Clinical Sciences during this time.   To demonstrate the productivity of this research experience, this link provides a summation of publications authored by the UVa general surgery residency chief class of 2010.

In order to enable this research experience to be productive, the Department of Surgery has developed a policy regarding resident research.  This policy also highlights some of the departmental and institutional resources designed to facilitate this research experience.

Resident research can only thrive with appropriate mentorship.  The faculty of the University of Virginia Department of Surgery are committed to research in their own careers as well as to helping residents develop as surgeon-scientists.  This link provides a listing of ongoing or available projects for which our faculty would like to mentor a resident researcher. 

Categorical residents are required to submit a research proposal in the winter and present their topic during Resident Research Day in April as a poster or an oral presentation.  Pre-existing work is acceptable, but novel research created for research day also is encouraged.  This frequently also results in this work being presented and published in other forums including presentations at local, regional, or national meetings and publication in peer reviewed journals.  A recent peer reviewed publication authored by UVa surgery residents and faculty that examines the success of our Resident Research Day is available here.

Submission of research primarily for presentation at professional society meetings also is encouraged.  When a resident working with a surgery faculty mentor succeeds in getting an abstract accepted for presentation at a meeting, the resident is given the opportunity to travel to that meeting, present the work, and expenses related to this are covered. A listing of meetings that may be appropriate for submission by a surgery resident is available here, although this is by no means intended to be a complete list. 

Laboratory Research Interests of the Faculty 

Clinical Research Interests of the Faculty