University of Central Florida-HCA Florida Healthcare Greater Orlando-Osceola Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a non-pyramidal, university-affiliated (UCF College of Medicine) community-based general surgery program built around three core training sites—HCA Florida Osceola Hospital, the Orlando VA Medical Center, and Nemours Children's Hospital—supplemented by specialty rotations at AdventHealth Tampa (advanced minimally invasive HPB), Kendall Medical Center (state-designated burn center), and Largo Medical Center (liver/kidney transplant), giving residents concentrated exposure to subspecialty surgery beyond the home institution. With only three categorical positions per year and no preliminary residents diluting case volume, the program emphasizes individualized operative and didactic progression toward full autonomy. Scholarly output is a defining feature: it is described as HCA's most productive Florida surgical program for research, requiring every resident to present at two meetings and publish before graduation, backed by an onsite research coordinator, biostatistician access, and the UCF health sciences library. As a self-described "relatively new" program still actively incorporating resident feedback, it favors trainees comfortable with an evolving structure who value critical, discussion-based clinical reasoning alongside required scholarly productivity.