Baylor-Dept of Surgery Summer Program
The Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery welcomes you. Thank you for your interest in the Michael E. DeBakey Summer Surgery Program. We hope this information will provide an overview of the program.
"The Michael E. DeBakey Summer Surgery Program offers the pre-medical student a glimpse of a career in surgery long before they will ever pick up a scalpel for the first time. Through contact with faculty members, residents, and other students, I gained tremendous insight on the realities, hardships, and joys of being a surgeon. It was incredibly valuable for me to be exposed to these people so early in my education, and my experiences this summer will no doubt be of great importance in decisions I will be making over the next few years. I am thankful that there are practicing surgeons so willing to educate and share their experiences with college students, and my memories of this summer will last a lifetime."

 Program Information

The program is scheduled to begin in June and continue through August with exact dates to be determined. Students selected for the eight-week program are assigned a Surgery faculty mentor who they work closely with during the program. The Michael E. DeBakey Summer Surgery Program encourages the development and interest of well-qualified current undergraduate students who are considering a medically oriented career. The program is designed to provide students with an opportunity to work with faculty, surgical residents, medical students, and nurses in our various teaching hospitals. During the eight weeks, students become familiar with the hospital environment, the operating room, and the lifestyle of a surgeon. They are expected to become an integral part of their surgical teams by participating in rounds, surgery, and conferences.
Each participant is assigned a Surgery faculty member at a specific institution: Ben Taub General Hospital, St. Lukes Episcopal Hospital, The Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Methodist Hospital, or Texas Children's Hospital. The faculty members practice General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Pediatric Surgery, Vascular Surgery, or Cardiothoracic Surgery. The students begin each day with early morning rounds, usually beginning around 6:00am. After rounds, the schedule for the remainder of the day is dependent upon the student's assignment. However, most mornings will be spent in the operating room, with clinic and/or conferences in the afternoon. Although night call is not expected, long hours are not unusual.
The participants begin the program with an extensive orientation, including an anatomy course and an orientation on "scrubbing in" and sterile technique. In addition to the clinical experiences of the program, the participants have the opportunity to attend "Brown Bag" Lectures several times a week. This informal lecture series is prepared specifically for the summer students. Faculty members conduct the lectures in an effort to introduce students to other options in surgery as well as important medical issues.
"Seeing an institution as large as Methodist Hospital recover from a natural disaster was a rewarding experience in itself, even without being in the OR. I did more rounds and saw more patients during this recovery period and being able to hear from patients really turned me on to the patient interaction side of a physician's job. Later when we were able to do work in the OR that was rewarding as well. It's amazing what can be done to help the human body. I feel privileged to have had the chance to stand at the OR table, witness a newly transplanted kidney turn pink as its perfused, and to have felt the pedal pulses of a patient that had none before a vascular bypass in his leg. It has been an experience more rewarding than what any class could teach me."
Tess Kim
University of Illinois - Chicago
This program permits individuals who are considering a career in medicine to become more familiar with the hospital environment and provides a realistic view of a career in medicine. Additionally, the participants will observe how surgeons conduct their daily lives and activities. It is expected that participation will enrich a participant's background and help in his/her decision to enter medicine.
We hope to provide an educational experience that will be of value to your eventual practice of medicine, regardless of which specialty you enter. If you have any questions, please contact the Surgery Education Office, (713) 798-6078, studentprograms@bcm.tmc.edu.
Application Process
Applications to the Michael E. DeBakey Summer Surgery Program will be accepted from October 1st - January 15th annually. As long as a student is a current undergraduate college student, that student is eligable to apply to the Michael E. DeBakey Summer Program. The application consists of a one-page application and the supplemental materials listed below. The completed application and additional materials must be received by the January 15th deadline. The Committee will review each completed file and those selected will be notified by mail before the end of April 30. No application is reviewed until after the deadline.
Please print the attached application. If you have problems printing this application, please e-mail the Surgery Education Office at studentprograms@bcm.tmc.edu with your mailing address to receive an application by mail.
For a complete file, the following documents are required.

Mail the completed application and required documents to:
Baylor College of Medicine
Surgery Education Office
Attn: Katie Mushinski
One Baylor Plaza, 404D
Houston, TX 77030
ALL APPLICATIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED BY JANUARY 2, 2007 AND RECEIVED BY THE DEADLINE OF JANUARY 15, 2007.
Due to the high volume of applications received, we are unable to verify receipt of parts of the application and or completed applications. Files not completed by January 15th will not be considered for acceptance.
A monthly stipend of $300 is provided to help defray a portion of the participant's living expenses. After the applicants are selected, housing information will be sent to the participants to assist them in finding their own housing.