University of Michigan Health-West Program

Program Identity & Fit

University of Michigan Health-West's General Surgery Residency is a community-based, DO-heavy program (nearly all core faculty and residents are osteopathic graduates) offering a structured 5-year curriculum built around a broad-based community hospital core with subspecialty rotations (thoracic, transplant, colorectal, surgical oncology, pediatric surgery) obtained through affiliated Michigan institutions and Grand Rapids Medical Education Partners. The clinical environment centers on general community surgical practice with a weekly resident-run Community Clinic exposure and structured M&M/Journal Club/SCORE curriculum rather than a heavy subspecialty research identity. Research exists as an institutional infrastructure (IRB, Protocol Review Committee, CRCWM cancer trials) but is process-oriented and compliance-driven rather than positioned as a resident career driver, with residents required to complete CITI training and route projects through a QI/case-report/protocol pathway. The program's outcomes and structure suggest it values residents oriented toward broad general surgical competence and eventual community surgical practice rather than academic subspecialization.