North Oakland Medical Centers (NOMC) is a multiple health care delivery systems entity which includes a 366-bed institution (formerly known as Pontiac General Hospital), a designated Emergency Care Center and a free standing 24-hour urgent care facility, the Waterford Ambulatory Care Center which also provides full ambulatory surgical services.  The General Surgery Residency Program has been in existence for over 50 years and has produced individuals who have demonstrated excellence in academic and clinical surgical practice careers in the US and several other countries.

In addition to the residency training, surgical education at NOMC also includes an active medical student teaching program.  Junior (Year III) Medical Students from Wayne State University (WSU) rotate at NOMC receiving their core surgery clerkship at this institution.  Rotations occur every two months and 4-6 students are assigned full-time here.  Also, Senior (Year IV) Elective Medical Students from Wayne State University and other medical schools in the United States and worldwide come here. The NOMC Surgical Residency Program is a major affiliate of the WSU Department of Surgery, by virtue of a Graduate Medical Education Agreement between the WSU/Detroit Medical Center (DMC) GME Programs and NOMC.

Teaching Faculty

The Teaching Faculty is comprised of 25 fully trained surgeons who teach principal components of General Surgery.  Fourteen full-time and eleven part-time faculty members devote time to teaching in the residency program, in addition to members practicing in the sub-specialties.

Yash Lakra , MD, FACS, is a well-known, long-established Board Certified General Surgeon with excellent teaching skills.  He has been an active member of the staff and teaching faculty at NOMC since 1974, and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Surgery at Wayne State University since 1998.  He is committed to full-time teaching as a Geographic Full-time Associate (FTA).

Vishnubhai Patel , MD, FACS, is Board Certified in General Surgery.  He is a veteran faculty member, having severed on the NOMC staff and Surgery Residency Training Program since 1971.  In addition to General Surgery, he has received training in Cardio-thoracic Surgery and has had extensive training and experience in Trauma Surgery.  He is Head of Trauma Surgery at NOMC.  He is also committed to full-time teaching as a Geographic FTA.

Shivana Prakash MD, FACS, is a graduate of the NOMC Surgery Residency Program. He has been in practice since 1996. Dr. Prakash is also employed in the role of Geographic FTA.

Mark Basson, MD, PhD is Professor of Surgery at WSU and heads a special academic faculty WSU-NOMC affiliated program designed to provide year-round scheduled teaching services, oral examiners and mentors in the career development of residents.  Five, Board-Certified full-time WSU faculty participate in the Program.

Yvan Silva , MD, FRCSC, FACS has been in continuous service at NOMC as Program Director since April 1991. He continues as Professor of Surgery (FTA) at Wayne State University School of Medicine having served on the faculty since 1970.

The Curriculum

The curriculum is carefully designed to provide thorough training in all of the components of General Surgery.  Residents rotate at WSU/DMC Hospitals on services such as Cardiovascular, Pediatric Surgery, Transplantation and Trauma.  All other activities take place at NOMC.  Research and scholarly activity is encouraged and required.  All teaching conferences, rounds, and clinic supervision are conducted by select members of the attending staff who have qualified as members of the teaching faculty.

Rotation Schedule (Categorical)

Rotation Schedule (Preliminary)

First Year

3 months

General Surgery

1 month

Anesthesia

2 months

ICU/Critical Care

2 months

Orthopedic Surgery

2 months

Urology

2 months

Neurosurgery/Plastic Surgery

A Closer Look

Conferences

The following conferences are held weekly at NOMC:

Bedside teaching rounds are conducted by faculty twice a week. A weekly, Friday morning conference professor's rounds is conducted by full-time faculty (WSU).

The following conferences are held once monthly:

Surgical Ambulatory Experience

The residents work under the direct supervision of the Director of Surgical Education and the Geographic Full-Time Associates in the clinic (Seminole Ambulatory Care Center , Division of NOMC) on Monday and Thursday afternoons.  Additionally, the medical students participate on a rotational basis in this clinic.  The residents also provide consultative services to the Family Practice Center, the Pediatric Clinic and the Obstetrics/Gynecology Clinic. 

Pre-Admission Testing Experience
Residents and medical students participate in the Pre-admission Testing (PAT) service five days a week.  A complete history, physical and pre-operative workup is performed on most outpatients prior to having surgery.  Members of the Anesthesia Department  and other consultants also attend these patients.  This exposes the residents to this growing and important segment of surgical practice.

Guest Speaker Program

In conjunction with the OHEP Center for Medical Education, NOMC sponsors the Meadow Brook Lecture Series.  Eminent, nationally and internationally known clinicians and researchers give clinical presentations and formal lectures, annually, allowing opportunities for personal contact with our residents to meet with them during their visits.

At NOMC, there are monthly rotations of guest lectures from the University of Michigan Medical Center, Wayne State University , and other local and area-wide institutions.  Their formal presentations are made at Grand Rounds, held once a month.

Research Opportunities
During each year, residents are required to undertake an experimental and/or clinical research project.  Well-equipped surgical research laboratories are available at nearby Wayne State University in Detroit .  To assist the researcher/resident, the OHEP consortium conducts an annual series of research workshops, and technical and faculty supervision are provided.  Residents present their work at local, regional and national meetings.  Presentations and publications are considered an important part of resident training at NOMC.  Personnel and facilities are available for the resident to work with.

Evaluation Procedures
During each academic year, all surgery residents must successfully complete the comprehensive, written in-service training examination (ABSITE) sponsored by the American Board of Surgery.  Oral examinations conducted by external examiners are given by OHEP annually.  In addition to being of value in assessing the resident’s progress, these examinations are considered to be an excellent method of preparing for the American Board of Surgery examinations.  Yet a third written examination in the basic sciences is administered on an annual basis by OHEP.

Each resident is evaluated quarterly by the Program Director and separately by the Surgery Residency Faculty Committee (the teaching faculty of the Program) to identify his/her progress, strengths and weaknesses – in order to correct deficiencies.  To allow the resident ample opportunity to make improvements, the Program Director meets regularly with the residents to discuss his/her evaluation and progress.

Available Residency Positions

At this time, four residency positions are available for the first year residents.  Two positions are categorical positions (C-19) for candidates who plan to complete the full-five-year program.  The other two positions are identified as a preliminary (C-18) for those individuals who are interested in completing one or two years in general surgery as a requirement prior to entering certain specialty programs.