Teaching tomorrow's surgeons

In collaboration with the University of Vermont Health Network, the Department of Surgery strives to recruit and retain the best faculty members to train our medical students.  The Department provides surgical services and training at the University of Vermont Health Network and is proud to be an integral part of this high quality, cost efficient health care center.  Our mission is to provide excellent patient care, superb resident and medical student training, and to foster research and innovation.   


Faculty and student practice microsutures

Education

From the entering novice medical student to the most experienced practitioner, the educational contribution of our department significantly and positively impacts the quality of care throughout Vermont and the areas throughout the country where our graduates practice. The major focus of our educational programs lies in Medical Student Education, Resident Education, Continuing Medical Education and Skills Labs.

Physicians in the skull base lab

Research

A broad spectrum of activities are directed toward improving the quality of our patient care and toward developing novel, innovative therapies. Through investigator-initiated trials, as well as national cooperative group, and industry-funded trials, department faculty are able to offer our patients access to cutting-edge treatments not otherwise available.

Department Highlights

Brian Sprague, PhD, Division of Surgical Research, was awarded a Health Services Research Pilot Grant from the Larner College of Medicine, for his proposal, “Evaluation of a cancer risk assessment questionnaire to guide cancer screening decision-making in primary care.”

Bruce Leavitt, MD (Cardiothoracic Surgery) and a team of 10 from UVM, are part of Team Heart, a nonprofit focused on bringing cardiac care to people in Rwanda.  Watch the WCAX segment


Departmental News

Moore Named Director of Active Learning

November 22, 2017 by Jennifer Nachbur

Jesse Moore, M.D., Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of Active Learning, left, with a trainee. (Photo: LCoM Creative Services)

Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education William Jeffries, Ph.D., has announced that Jesse Moore, M.D., associate professor of surgery, has been named the director of active learning at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, effective December 4, 2017. Moore, a colon and rectal surgeon at the UVM Medical Center, will continue to work as an active clinician concurrently with his new leadership role.

In this new position, which was created to oversee the College’s efforts towards achieving 100 percent active learning by 2019, Moore will report to Jeffries and be part of the Office of Medical Student Education. His responsibilities will include recruiting faculty to learn, contribute to, and implement active learning across the entire curriculum and will also involve oversight of the pedagogy and logistical plan for active learning. In addition, Moore will serve as chair the Active Learning Advisory Committee, and, in collaboration with the Teaching Academy, help design and implement faculty development for active learning.

Moore, who joined UVM in 2011, has served as director of the surgery clerkship since 2012. He was appointed director of surgery student education in 2016, overseeing the surgical education of first- and second-year students, the surgery rotation during the clerkship year, and the activities of fourth-year students pursuing a career in surgery. He also teaches and mentors general surgery residents at the UVM Medical Center, and was awarded Teacher of the Year honors by the residents in 2015.

Nationally, Moore has published and presented in both his clinical specialty and medical education. He has been a member of the Association for Surgical Education since 2012, is currently vice-chair of the Clerkship Director’s Committee, and was named a Fellow of their Academy of Clerkship Directors in 2016. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. At UVM, he serves on the Faculty Senate, and is a member of the Larner College of Medicine Teaching Academy and the Medical Curriculum Committee. He also chairs the Curriculum Competency Committee for the Department of Surgery at the UVM Medical Center.

After earning his medical degree from SUNY Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn, N.Y., Moore completed a surgery residency and a fellowship in medical outcomes at the UVM Medical Center. He also completed a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., prior to joining the faculty at UVM.

Upcoming Events

Surgery Grand Rounds is held every Thursday during the academic year (September - June) in the Davis Auditorium from 7:30-8:30 am followed by M&M Conference from 8:30-9:30 am.

Visit the detailed department calendar >>