Surgical Year 4 Sub-Internships

The Cedars-Sinai Department of Surgery welcomes 4th year medical students to apply for 3- or 4-week rotations with us in the surgical services. We offer a vast variety of specialties from which to choose with faculty world-renowned for their expertise in their field.

To read more about each service's course description and its goals and objectives, you can refer to the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA's Course Descriptions Handbook where our courses are listed under Surgery and Surgery 2 with the Location code of "CS". Also, you can click on each of the specialties below:

How to Apply for Sub-Internship

Cedars-Sinai is an affiliate site to the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. To apply for a sub-internship in the Department of Surgery, please go to their website for visiting students and follow the directions as outlined.

Candidate applications are accepted starting February 1st for sub-internships in May-September. We offer 3 and 4 week sub-Internships.

Mail the completed application and required forms to us:

Sheila Yancy
Cedars-Sinai Department of Surgery
8635 W. 3rd Street, 650W
Los Angeles, CA 90048

We will process your application, and upon approval by Dr. Towfigh, it will be forwarded to the UCLA Medical School. You will be contacted by them for confirmation of your paperwork. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Sheila Yancy (310-423-3544 or email ), Dr. Shirin Towfigh (310-423-8353 or email ) or call UCLA's Visiting Student Coordinator, Brandon Susselman (310-206-0973 or email ).

Patient Privacy & HIPPA

The Cedars-Sinai patient electronic medical record is called Web/VS. Please guard your login and password closely and do not share with anyone. Also, do not borrow a login or password from your resident. Patient privacy and medical records security is of utmost importance to us at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and we implement a zero-tolerance policy. Do not search any patient with whom you do not have direct medical involvement. This includes friends, relatives, and celebrities. Diversion from this practice will result in automatic termination of your rotation.

One Week Prior to Start of Rotation

It is mandatory that you review, complete, and return the following paperwork to Sheila Yancy (Fax 310-423-5454 email ) at least 1 week prior to your arrival. 

Day Zero

Contact the Chief Resident of your service and ask when you should meet the team for morning rounds on Day 1. To check to see who your Chief is, refer to the resident Call Schedule emailed to you by Sheila, call Sheila (310-423-3544), or call the Cedars-Sinai Page Operator (310-423-3276).

Day One

- Directions

- Park in lot 2 open air parking lot) on George Burns Drive, between Beverly Blvd and Alden Drive. Bring your parking ticket with you so it can be validated until your parking permit is set up. Note that a $15 refundable deposit is needed to receive a parking permit during your Clerkship stay.

- Round with your team in the morning and get orientated to the team dynamics.

- Some areas you will be directed to:

  • ID Badge: South Tower, Lower Level, Room A-812
  • Linen Services for scrubs: South Tower, Lower Level, ask for Lina
  • Parking: in parking Lot south of Thalians Bldg

On-Call Dates & Days Off

While on a General Surgery rotation, you are expected to be on call on average every 6th day (i.e., 3 days total), with 1 full day off per week. An on-call schedule is emailed to you prior to your Clerkship that strictly delineates which days you will be on-call and which will be your days off. In general, care is taken not to assign you to be on-call or post-call on the day of your Doctoring session. Also, as much as possible, you will be matched with your team on call.


Changes in your on-call and days off schedule cannot be made unless cleared by Dr. Towfigh.


Note that weekends are working days, so if you are not assigned to be off on a weekend day, you are expected to come to the hospital, round with your team, and carry on with normal patient care activities.
When you are on-call, you are to report to the 3rd year resident on-call for Trauma once your activities with your assigned Team are completed. They may be reached at pager #0946.  That resident is the "consult resident" and will be fielding trauma and non-trauma emergencies throughout the ER and hospital. Give the resident your pager or cellphone number so that you can be paged if a trauma or surgery consult comes to the ER. You should be shadowing the 3rd year resident as much as possible, and scrubbing in on cases with the Chief Resident that take place on that service throughout the evening. If you are assigned to the Acute Care Surgery team, you should continue to follow those patients who you help take care of while on-call.


While on a Surgical Subspecialty rotation, you are not expected to take call.  Your rotation is Monday – Friday.  While on Hepatobiliary/Transplant Surgery rotation, you may choose to be on call for organ procurements and transplants.  This is your choice and not mandated by the Clerkship.

Medical student call rooms are located in Room A304.

Doctoring

You are not expected to come to the Medical Center on your assigned Doctoring day. You are excused from all patient care activities on those dates.

Educational Conferences Calendar

Mandatory conferences include:

Tuesdays:4pm Visiting Professor/Journal Club
  8215 North Tower
Wednesdays:*7am Grand Rounds
  at UCLA for non-Continuity students
  at Cedars-Sinai, ECC-B, for CONTINUITY students
8am M+M Conference
  at UCLA for non-Continuity students only
9am Student Lecture Series
  at UCLA for all students
Thursdays:7am Resident Education Series
  ECC-B
8am Matrix Conference
  ECC-B
Fridays:4-6pm CONTINUITY Course series
  Saperstein MS10
  for CONTINUITY students only

*On Wednesdays, you are expected to report back to your team at Cedars-Sinai no later than 11am. On this day, you are not expected to come to Cedars-Sinai for morning rounds. If you are post-call, you are not expected to return to CSMC after your lecture at UCLA.

In addition, there are non-mandatory conferences in the Department of Surgery which you may attend in the Department of Surgery.  These are found under the   CSMC MS3 Calendar  .  If you are a CONTINUITY student, click on the   CSMC Continuity MS3 Calendar  .

Each service has their own educational conference and it is expected that you attend and participate in them. Refer to the Goals and Objectives for General Surgery and Surgical Subspecialties for details regarding other educational conferences.

Bedside Rounds

Every Monday at 11am, you are to meet Dr. Towfigh at 8215 North Tower for Bedside Rounds. These rounds are intended for General Surgery rotations only.  Have a formal oral bedside presentation prepared on one of your patients. It is recommended that you read up on your patient's illness, presentation, and surgical recovery in order to gain the most from this 1 hour session.

Last Day of Rotation

On the last day of your Surgery rotation at CSMC, please fill in and return the following to Shelia Yancy*:

*If your last day is a weekend or it is after-hours, please turn in the above mentioned articles to the "Medical Student Drop-off Box" located in 650 West MOT.

Absences

Up to 3 days of excused absence due to illness is allowable during your Year 3 Clerkship. Similarly, in the case of medical conferences at which you are presenting a paper, up to 3 days is allowable during your Year 3 Clerkship. All other absences are considered unexcused and the missed time must be made up at a later date, which will be coordinated in conjunction with the Clerkship Director's Office at CHS.

Regardless of the reason for absence, please make sure that you contact Dr. Towfigh (310-423-8353; Email ) as well as the Chief of your service if you cannot arrive to the hospital.

Housing

Although Cedars-Sinai does not provide housing, opportunities exist to find safe and affordable housing in our area of town. In addition, unless you live nearby, an automobile is highly encouraged for transportation in Los Angeles. Options on methods to find housing include: print button
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