GRADUATE

Graduate overview

The Department Of Surgery offers full-time degree courses leading to the awarding of a Doctor of Medicine [DM (Surg.)] degree.  Degrees are offered in General Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Urology, Neurosurgery, Paediatric Surgery and Ophthalmology.  Training periods range from five to six years.  All programmes aim at providing exit qualifications for graduates to practice independently and at Consultant level. Since its inception in 1972, there have been 100 graduates in Surgery up to December 2008. Graduates are scattered throughout the Americas from Trinidad and Tobago to the United States of America, with 95% currently practicing in the region.

Specialization options include General Surgery, Otorhinolaryngology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Urology, Neurosurgery, Paediatric Surgery and Ophthalmology.

All programmes aim at providing exit qualifications for graduates to practice independently and at Consultant level in a Surgical Discipline throughout the Caribbean.

Applicants should be graduates in Medicine from a Medical School or University recognized by the UWI and be fully registered to practice in the Caribbean.  Preference will be given to those who excel in the surgical fields during their undergraduate training. Time spent in gaining post-internship experience in Emergency Medicine, along with ATLS and ACLS certification, will be of benefit to candidates seeking entry into surgical programmes.

Programme durations are between five and six years depending on the specialty/subspecialty.

The courses are divided into two parts.  The programmes have a common two-year Part 1 training period spent in rotations of three months each in various surgical disciplines.  During this period there are structured teaching in Applied Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology along with Principles of Surgery in general. At the end of this training period there will be a written and oral examination in each of the four disciplines

Following successful completion of the Part 1 examination, candidates proceed into the second part of the training.  This is spent exclusively in the chosen speciality using six-month rotations.  The penultimate year is available for elective rotations in any approved institution.  In this part of the course the candidate is required to prepare a Casebook with commentaries or a research project before presenting for the final examination. To graduate, the candidate should have successfully completed the training period with respect operative experience, have satisfactory assessments, submitted and obtained acceptance of the casebook, and be successful in the written and oral Part II examinations