Third-Year Surgical Clerkship

Thank you for visiting the Third-Year Surgical Clerkship page of the Department of Surgery at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. These pages and links will provide third-year students the information necessary to prepare for, and successfully complete the Third-Year Surgery Clerkship.

Third-year students are taught in traditional clerkship clinical settings on three Campuses: Fargo, Grand Forks and Bismarck. These clerkships provide students an environment of learning in clinical surroundings ranging from physician practices in a rural health care system to urban medical centers. The surgical clerkship is eight weeks in length and includes brief exposure to urology and ENT, plus a week of an elective in a surgically related specialty.  Specific rotations for each student will be assigned by the home campus.  These rotations may include general surgery, trauma surgery, transplant surgery, surgical critical care and cardiovascular surgery.  Students will be assigned to a mix of rotations that adequately represents the discipline of surgery.  Students are assessed in the areas of patient care, clinical knowledge, interpersonal skills, and professionalism.

ROME is a seven-month interdisciplinary experience in a rural primary care setting open to third-year students. Students live and train in a nonmetropolitan community under the supervision of physician preceptors. A goal for the ROME program is to expose students to practicing medicine in rural areas throughout the state. At some ROME sites, the surgical clerkship is fully integrated into the ROME experience.  Some ROME sites require part or all of the surgical clerkship be completed at one of the three urban campuses.  

During the eight weeks prior to taking the NBME surgery shelf exam, ROME and Surgery Clerkship students are strongly encouraged to attend all Department of Surgery meetings either in person or by videoconference (see Events for more details). These conferences include (but are not limited to)

• Weekly Student Seminars: Mondays 4–5 p.m.
• Weekly Morbidity & Mortality Conference: Fridays 7–8 a.m.
• Surgery Grand Rounds: First and third Friday of each month 8-9 a.m.
• There are additional Friday morning didactic conferences that students must attend.  Consult the department schedule for details.

A new 3rd year longitudinal clerkship opens in Minot this July 2012.  We will publish more details on the surgery component of that clerkship as they become available.