Creating Opportunities for Tomorrow’s Leaders in Surgery

The evolution of healthcare necessitates changes in the way we train our surgical residents for practicing in this environment. This requires not only revising the clinical education but also preparing these new entrants into the workforce with skills that will allow them to be successful in the administrative, regulatory, and quality improvement milieu that they will practice in. Traditionally, many residents have taken nonclinical time during their training to pursue laboratory and other clinical opportunities. We describe a series of opportunities that we have developed, providing durable degrees and extraordinary experiences as alternatives to this traditional approach and, at the same time, preparing them for competitive fellowships and jobs in the future.