General Surgery Residency
FAQ
- What's Macon like?
- What are the advantages to training in a smaller city like Macon?
- What kind of resident would be a particularly good ˜fit' at AHN?
- What's a typical day like in the Program?
- What do you do when you're off-call?
- What sets AHN apart from other general surgery programs?
What's Macon like?
- Mid-sized southern city that is family friendly with a lot of history and character.
- Little traffic congestion
- Amenities of larger city life, without the exorbitant cost of living.
- Macon is a very quiet town. Not much to do outside of work.
- Great city - full of southern hospitality; old city charm with modern benefits; music scene, night life, culture.
- Small town atmosphere and lower cost of living with very friendly people.
- Small southern city, close to Atlanta
- At first I tolerated it but now my family and I really like it here. We have made good friends, have a very nice place to live (at VERY fair real estate prices, and enjoy what the city has to offer. Not much traffic, but plenty to do.
- Quiet, family oriented town with lots of outdoor activities.
- Minimal distractions for me
- Small town feel with access to larger areas. Multicultural vs. Kansas
- Centrally located, warm in the summer, typical Georgia weather, and perfect in the fall.
- Small town feel, love the outdoor events like 2nd Saturday (outdoor concert in one of the downtown parks).
- Growing city that still has some old world charm
- Diverse city with a small town feel.
- All of the amenities of a big city in a small town.
What are the advantages to training in a smaller city like Macon?
- Wide variety of pathology and surgical cases, no competition from fellows and medical school is in close proximity to AHN.
- Less traffic allows a 20 minute commute time
- No traffic, close to everything (Atlanta, gulf coast and east coast beaches)
- Broad base of cases due to diverse population; very nice housing at affordable pricing.
- You are able to know the attending on a personal level.
- Affordable housing and more continuity of care
- Much more friendly staff, able to live close to hospital
- Everyone seems to know each other.
- Affordable housing
- No appreciable traffic. Lower cost of living. Short commute time.
- No fellowships and increased autonomy
- Close enough to Atlanta without the traffic
- No traffic, can buy a house, family friendly, southern town
- Good cheap housing, no commutes longer than 10-15 minutes, warm year round, lots of nearby lakes and streams
- No traffic, cheap cost of living, community comparable to any city in the state, close to the coast
- Small residency program, really get to know residents and attendings. Still get good trauma without the constant trauma influx one sees in larger cities.
- Macon is large enough to support a rigorous surgical training experience without all the inconvenience of large cities such as traffic and congestion
What kind of resident would be a particularly good 'fit' at AHN?
- Self-driven, hard working
- One who wants to be technically good and well-trained in a non-threatening environment
- Self-driven, hard working, responsible
- Southerners blend in well
- Family oriented, married
- Family man/woman
- Positive attitude, team player
- Hard-working, unselfish, amiable, and reliable.
- Someone who likes outdoors, works well with others.
- Wants to be well trained in general surgery
- Small town guy, family oriented, hard worker.
- Independent, efficient, laid back
- Hard working, competent, sociable, respectful
- Hard working, team member/team player - dedicated to getting the job done
- Small town applicant that values family
- Works hard, team player, doesn't mind not living in a big city
- Friendly, easy-going
- A resident with a strong work ethic and a strong sense of teamwork would be a good fit for our program
- One who is looking for a broad general surgery experience
What's a typical day like in the Program?
- Early A.M. rounds, team rounds, OR time, attending rounds and consults
- Operating, clinical, research and education. Show up early round operate all day see consults home.
- Key-approachable staff and teaching
- Two days of OR, two days of clinic and one day of endoscopy
- From the perspective of a third year resident, begin rounding at 5:45 A.M., morning conference or straight to the OR, check out to night float residents at 6 P.M.
- Start rounds around 6 A.M. (depending on rotation); OR starts @ 7:30; operate until 3:00-4:00 P.M. and see a few consults
- Rounds, OR most of the day, round with attending between cases, see consults
- A.M. Pre-rounds, then Resident Rounds with upper-level to make work list for the day, followed by OR-depending on case schedules. Attending rounds in late morning/early afternoon. Check out to night float around 6:00 P.M.
- See patients, complete patient progress notes, divide operative cases, round with attending between cases, attend didactic conferences
- Typically busy, filled with consults, clinic, and operating
- Rounding, conferences and alternating floor responsibilities with operating and clinic duties
- Typical days begin with rounds in the morning followed by OR cases and clinics. Various conferences are scheduled throughout the week. In the afternoons, residents not in the OR see new consults and organize patient care.
What do you do when you're off-call?
- Play golf, fish
- Play with my kids
- Outside activities with family, going to Savannah or Atlanta
- Fishing, traveling
- Activities with my family - going to church, enjoying eating out, visiting relatives in Augusta/Greenville
- Fishing, hunting, going to the beach
- Spend time with family
- Hunting/fishing spend time with the family
- Hang out with friends and family sleep exercise read
- Sleep, study, watch ESPN
- Spend time with girlfriend work outside home improvement landscaping.
- Anything outdoors - bike, hike, swim, relax in my hammock
- Work on our Victorian-era house
- Sleep, read, shop, spend time with family/friends
- Spending time with my family and close friends. The residents as a group gather frequently after work for social get-togethers.
- Eating out, relaxing, study, movies
What sets AHN apart from other general surgery programs?
- No fellowship competition, close knit group of working colleagues, a lot of hospital support for the residency
- Non-threatening, complete opposite of malignant; collegial atmosphere amongst residents and attendings. Our attendings are concerned and compassionate people.
- Possibilities for research and operating. Abide by ACGME rules so no worries about accreditation.
- Outstanding training in a supportive environment
- Congenial residents that blend well I can't think of any personal conflicts that are/have been an issue.
- There are no fellows.
- Many things for me As I said, it's a really good mix of academic and community-based programs. I am very interested in research and that's acceptable. Residents are not carbon-copies, but many of us have a lot in common.
- Early operative experience close group of residents
- Early operative experience great group of residents community program excellent academic program
- The residents are great. Everyone works together.
- Large hospital with many private and faculty attendings leads to a vast and varied quality of cases. The hospital and administration are very supportive of surgery residents.
- Resident cooperation; open lines of communication between residents and attendings; demonstrated history of attaining desired fellowships and post-graduate success.
- Good people, see private practice side of surgery as well as staff surgery (hospital based side)
- Mixed community and academic surgical practice, proximity to family, great training with the opportunity to get a great fellowship and the people in the program
- Heavy amount of pediatric cases and penetrating trauma
- Great mix of general surgery cases and the people are not only great colleagues, but great friends.
- Close knit group of residents
- The Mercer program at AHN offers a strong sense of camaraderie and fellowship not just among the residents but including the faculty as well, The program is very family friendly, and offers a very pleasant work environment.