University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine Tulsa Program

Program Identity & Fit

OU-Tulsa's General Surgery residency is a community medicine-affiliated academic program combining a Level II Trauma Center with fellowship-trained faculty across bariatric, minimally invasive, hepatobiliary, colorectal, trauma/critical care, endoscopy, pediatric, and vascular surgery, giving categorical residents broad operative exposure within a small four-per-year cohort. Research is structurally embedded rather than incidental: a dedicated Vice Chair for Research, an Integrative Immunology Center, NIH-funded translational work, national database outcomes research (NSQIP, HCUP-NIS), and an optional dedicated research year after PGY3 support residents pursuing scholarly output alongside clinical training. Roughly half of graduates pursue fellowship training and half enter community general surgery practice, reflecting a program built to serve both trajectories equally rather than funneling toward one. The program explicitly emphasizes close resident-faculty camaraderie and a team-oriented culture, seeking candidates with strong character and commitment to improving healthcare delivery, not just academic metrics.