Cleveland Clinic Foundation-Akron General Program

Program Identity & Fit

Cleveland Clinic Akron General's General Surgery Residency is a community-based, tertiary-referral program operating within the larger Cleveland Clinic academic health system, anchored by a Level 1 Trauma Center with growing acute care surgery, oncologic, hepatobiliary, and foregut volumes. The five-year curriculum emphasizes broad operative exposure (residents graduate with approximately 1200 cases), heavy laparoscopic and endoscopic experience, a dedicated Surgery Skills Lab with FLS/FES integration, and a pediatric surgery/burn rotation at Akron Children's Hospital. Clinical research participation is encouraged and structurally supported (weekly research meetings, dedicated research health scientist, biostatistician support for its affiliated breast oncology fellowship), but the program's stated emphasis is on producing well-rounded operative surgeons ready for either practice or fellowship, not academic research careers. Distinctive features include an intern-year mentorship program, close faculty-resident camaraderie, NEOMED/OU-HCOM teaching affiliations, and multiple in-house fellowship pathways (e.g., Breast Surgery Oncology) signaling a program that values longitudinal relationships and steady clinical-operative growth over pure academic output.