The General Surgery Residency Program at UAB will add two new pathways beginning this academic year: the Military Match Pathway and the Cardiothoracic Integrated Pathway.

The Military Match Pathway is a coalition with the Defense Health Agency to accept and train one of their residents each year. This resident will account for one of the eight General Surgery Residency spots. With 23 years of experience in the Army, Department of Surgery professor John Holcomb, M.D., FACS, is uniquely positioned to support this pathway and looks forward to seeing it develop.

“As a healthcare department, our partnerships with the community are immensely important,” said Holcomb. “This new pathway will allow us to impart our world-class training as the third-largest public hospital in the U.S. on future trainees from the Defense Health Agency.”

Beginning this academic year, residency leadership will select one applicant from the 2020-21 NRMP match. This applicant will be matched into the Cardiothoracic 4/3 integrated track. They will complete four years of general surgery and three years of cardiothoracic training. Currently, residents in this pathway are selected in year three after applying and interviewing.

Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program Director Benjamin Wei, M.D., believes this additional pathway option will strengthen the General Surgery Residency Program.

“The residents in our program went through a rigorous selection process in order to join the General Surgery Residency program, and they perform on an extremely high level,” said Wei. “This guaranteed spot in the integrated pathway allows us to reward dedicated efforts that demonstrate consistent interest in our Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency Program.”

Learn more about the UAB General Surgery Residency Program here.