Tower Health Program

Program Identity & Fit

Tower Health's General Surgery Residency at Reading Hospital is a hybrid community/university-affiliated program, newly established in 2019 and now formally linked to Drexel University College of Medicine's West Reading branch campus, blending community-hospital collegiality with academic-medical-center clinical volume. The training environment is anchored by a 700+ bed facility with a 24-OR HealthPlex, the busiest emergency department in Pennsylvania, and five trauma resuscitation bays, giving residents high-acuity trauma and emergency surgical exposure alongside early and longitudinal experience in minimally invasive and robotic surgery. Clinical research is explicitly encouraged starting in intern year, reflecting an evidence-based practice culture rather than a mandate for structured scholarly tracks. The program explicitly frames itself as producing surgeons prepared for both clinical and academic practice, valuing clinical competence, ownership of patient care, and cost-effective, evidence-based decision-making within a self-described "friendly," collegial workplace atypical for a large facility.