The goal of the group is to promote opportunities for students to interact with surgical faculty in the operating room, the conference room, the office setting, and in social settings. Through these interactions it is hoped that students will gain a better understanding of the true nature of surgery and its various subspecialties, structuring a better framework for making appropriate career decisions. The SIG is one of the most active student interest groups at the medical school. Due to the hard work of our student members and the generosity of our member surgeons, we have been able to increase the group's activities to at least one event each week. This group works to pair students with surgeons in a field of their interest so that they can observe operations in the OR as well as shadow the surgeon throughout her or his day.
Students are able to personally explore any surgical field of interest.
We have been extremely successful this year in recruiting surgeons to volunteer their time and share their profession with us. During those weeks when we do not have a lecturing surgeon, the group chooses an educational surgical video to view. This year students have enjoyed two panel discussions composed of seven surgeons speaking mainly on the topic of lifestyle issues. The database will be particularly useful for students hoping to spend a summer or an entire year in surgery related research. Our newest group allows students to present research on surgically-related topics.