University of Central Florida-HCA Florida Healthcare Pensacola Program

Program Identity & Fit

This is a new, community-based five-year general surgery residency in Pensacola, FL, operated under the HCA Healthcare/University of Central Florida GME consortium, emphasizing one-on-one faculty instruction over a large academic hierarchy. Without a fellowship program at the institution, residents are placed into surgical cases from year one, gaining broad operative exposure across vascular, surgical oncology, trauma, cardiothoracic, pediatric, and endocrine surgery rotations. Research is structurally supported through HCA's national scholarly infrastructure, including a dedicated research fellow assigned to the site, data/statistical support at the consortium level, and access to HCA's multi-million-encounter patient database, though the program's stated priority remains producing "safe surgeons" through volume and mentorship rather than academic output. As an inaugural program, it explicitly seeks candidates comfortable with an unstructured, evolving curriculum and willing to help shape training rather than step into an established institutional culture.