Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science Phoenix Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is an academic, tertiary-referral general surgery residency embedded within Mayo Clinic's Arizona campus, combining a high-acuity quaternary-care patient population with structured exposure to safety-net and pediatric populations through offsite rotations at Valleywise Health, the VA, and Phoenix Children's Hospital. The program is built on an apprenticeship model for minimally invasive and chief services and a team-based structure for surgical oncology and colorectal subspecialty rotations, with a dedicated simulation lab (laparoscopic and robotic trainers) and a formal robotic curriculum. Research is structurally embedded but not obligatory for all: residents average five clinical research projects each, and one to two residents per class may pursue a protected one-to-two-year research block between the second and third years. Outcomes strongly favor subspecialty fellowship training (89% of graduates), spanning plastic surgery, surgical oncology/breast, pediatric surgery, MIS, colorectal, transplant, and vascular surgery, indicating the program builds toward fellowship-track careers rather than early independent general surgery practice.