General Surgical Residency Program

Applications are accepted exclusively through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). We participate in the National Resident Matching Program (The Match).

You must submit your application documents electronically via www.aamc.org/eras

Wyckoff Heights Medical Center is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants and employees are afforded equal employment opportunity without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, genetic information, veteran status or any class protected by law.

The required electronic application documents are as follows:

• Common Application Form
• Curriculum Vitae Report
• Personal Statement
• Medical School Transcript
• Dean's Letter
• 3 Letters of Recommendation
• Medical Student Performance Evaluation (formerly Dean’s letter)
• Photo
• United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Transcripts
• ECFMG Status Report (foreign medical graduates only)

The following list reflects Wyckoff Heights Medical Center’s Surgery Department’s IDEAL applicant:

• Clerkship evaluations of B or higher
• We prefer score of at least 240 in Step 1 and Step 2 on first attempt
• Class standing – preferably in the top 25%
• Letters of Recommendation – Three favorable letters required with the most weight given to letters from surgical attendings
• Research experience/Publications
• Favorable personal interview by panel of surgeons
• MSPE (Medical Student Performance Evaluation)/Dean’s letter
• Post medical school graduation less than five years; candidates with the latest graduation dates will be considered first
• No previous experience is necessary in the U.S. or elsewhere
• We presently have foreign grads in the program
• ECFMG application must be initiated before applying
• Physicians who are not US citizens must have a valid work permit or be eligible for a J-1 visa or H-1 visa

We have 4 categorical positions
COMLEX II – (if available) passed the first time
COMLEX I  – passed on the first attempt with a score of 85 or higher

Diversity

We are fortunate to attract a diverse group of residents to our program. Training a diverse physician workforce not only helps make our residency stronger, but also ultimately helps the communities for which we provide care.

Applications

Your completed electronic application must be available to us no later than November 1, 2022 for the 2023-2024 training year. Program director and recruiting team members determine who will be invited to interview. The Department of Surgery will invite selected applicants for interviews.

Our interview sessions will take place in December 2022.

All of our PGY-1 categorical positions are filled through the National Resident Matching Program.

To apply to our General Surgery track the NRMP code is 1435440C0

CIR Benefits, Contract and Salary Information: https://www.cirseiu.org/wyckoff-heights-medical-center/

American Board of Surgery Training and Certification Requirements: http://www.absurgery.org/default.jsp?certgsqe_training

Eligibility

It is the policy of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center’s Department of Surgery to adhere to the guidelines published by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Eligible applicants will be selected on the basis of preparedness, ability, aptitude, academic credentials, communication skills, motivation, and integrity. Eligible applicants will be selected for the program based upon their previous records and accomplishments.

Foreign Medical Graduates

All graduates of international medical schools must hold a valid certificate issued by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) to be appointed as a resident or fellow. For details, contact ECFMG at info@ecfmg.org or write to

ECFMG
3624 Market St.
Philadelphia PA 19104-2685, USA

We look forward to receiving your application documents electronically.

If you have any questions, please email:
Anna Trzpis
General Surgery Program Coordinator
atrzpis@wyckoffhospital.org

Internship/Residency Verification Requests

All internship/residency verification requests for former Wyckoff Heights Medical Center general surgery residents should be directed to:
Anna Trzpis
General Surgery Program Coordinator
atrzpis@wyckoffhospital.org

Benefits

Wyckoff provides generous health and welfare benefits for you and your dependents. Residents become eligible for all health and welfare benefits after 30 days of employment. The cost of coverage is largely employer-subsidized and includes:

• Medical
• Dental
• Vision
• Flexible spending accounts
• Short-term disability
• Employer-paid basic life insurance/accidental death and dismemberment at 1½ times pay up to $500,000
• Salary continuation during disability for up to 12 weeks and 50 percent short-term disability thereafter at no cost
• 50 percent long-term disability provided at no cost
• Supplemental life insurance/accidental death and dismemberment

The following is intended only as a summary of some of the benefits provided by Wyckoff:

• Counseling—Confidential counseling, medical and psychological support services
• Malpractice insurance—Coverage, including Tail, provided by the health system
• Meal allowance—A monthly meal allowance, and free lunches
• Uniform and laundry service—Uniforms (lab coats and scrubs as required) and laundry service is provided without charge
• On-call rooms—Adequate and appropriate sleeping on-call rooms are provided on campus
• Parking—On-campus parking is provided without charge in open lots, and limited garage parking is available to residents and fellows at the North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish campuses. Parking rules for other campuses may differ.
• Employee group discounts—Eligible for the many health system group discounts
• Additional insurance—Voluntary long-term care, group universal life, prepaid legal, identity theft, and cancer benefits at discounted rates

Retirement Program

Wyckoff offers 403(b) retirement savings for residents and fellows. Our 403(b) savings plan lets employees save pre-tax. All employees can save a percentage of their earnings before taxes are taken out, beginning on their first day of employment. Our 403(b) plan features a variety of investment options, including a full range of mutual funds and targeted retirement funds. Employees can easily sign up and manage their accounts online or by phone.

Time-off Benefits

Members of the house staff are entitled to 20 days of paid time off (PTO) each contract year. These 20 days must be used during the period covered by the contract and may not be carried into subsequent years.

All requests for leave, other than disability, are reviewed by the department chairman on a case-by-case basis. All time away from formal graduate medical education, other than allotted PTO, may lead to a shortfall in the time needed to complete the requirements of both the program and the corresponding certifying board. In such situations, additional months of training may be necessary.

Eligibility for Board Certification

Upon graduating from our program, most of residency graduates seek board certification for the American Board of Surgery or the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery. Please review the information contained in the website links below.

Resources

American Board of Surgery

American Osteopathic Board of Surgery

Our Residency Program helps to provide an environment conducive to learning surgical principles during the clerkship. The students will be assigned to day call, night call, operating room, ambulatory surgery, clinic, and wound care. The chief resident is expected to lead morning and afternoon rounds. Medical students should be encouraged to closely follow several patients on the service and provide input into their care. During rounds, the medical students are invited to briefly present the patients and their progress as well as assist in dressing changes. Morning rounds start at 6 AM and are focused and work-related. In the afternoon, every attempt should be made to make rounds between 5-6 PM. Once or twice a week, afternoon rounds should be focused on medical student education. This may include resident or medical student presentations reviewing the latest literature on a specific topic as it relates to the in-patient service.

The surgical curriculum is comprehensive and includes clinical training, didactics. and research. The clinical training program is a “hands-on” experience. Beginning in their internship year, residents participate in preoperative evaluation of patients, operative experience, post-operative care, and follow-up in outpatient clinics. All operative cases as well as outpatient and inpatient care are supervised by attending staff. Residents will gain experience through graded and progressive responsibility while providing safe and effective care to patients. As residents grow in their ability to care for their patients, they will assume a more autonomous role. Each resident’s development of the skill set, knowledge and attitude required to enter the unsupervised practice of medicine will follow. Our curriculum is competency based and inclusive of all required disciplines, in compliance with the ACGME.

• Medical Knowledge
• Patient Care
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills
• Professionalism
• Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
• Systems-Based Practice

Surgical Grand Rounds

This lecture series is presented once a month by distinguished visiting professors invited to give lectures on topics of their expertise. Surgical Grand Rounds serve to familiarize surgical residents with current, state-of-the-art surgical clinical management. These lectures provide the residents with the opportunity to focus on current controversies related to the clinical topics.

Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) Conference

The overall goal of M&M is for residents to learn how to communicate adverse events to colleagues, how best to analyze these events, and how to discuss learning points to prevent similar errors in the future. The M&M conference is held on a weekly basis.

Tumor Board

Tumor Board is a multidisciplinary weekly conference in which the surgical department and residents present cases they are involved in with oncologists devoted to teaching.

Journal Club

The overall goal of the Journal Club is for residents to learn the analytical skills essential for keeping current and practicing evidence-based surgery. This lecture is presented quarterly.

DECKER Curriculum Seminars

Seminars occur on a weekly basis with parallel sessions for the junior and senior levels.

Morning Report

Morning report occurs daily to discuss patient care issues and plans.

Interdisciplinary Team Rounds

Residents participate in daily Interdisciplinary Interdepartmental Team (IDT) meetings with nursing, social work, and physical therapy staff to discuss socioeconomic patient issues, requirement for patient discharge and placement, and patient education. The IDT meeting allows residents to incorporate multiple aspects of the healthcare system to provide optimal healthcare for the patient during their hospital course.

Clinical Documentation Improvement Lectures

This annual lecture reviews the guidelines needed for complete and specific documentation in the medical record and its impact on both the personal physician profile and that of the Hospital.

Surgical Simulation Skills Workshop

This workshop provides formal hands-on training in technical skills with the surgical attending physicians. Residents are able to focus on the complete procedure or specific components and practice as often as necessary. Skills lab simulators provide objective evidence of performance and immediate feedback in individual training.

The general surgery program follows the ACS Simulation Skills curriculum and works with Covidien to provide the residents with the opportunity to participate in cognitive and procedural skills activities. Training is conducted both on and off sites.

In the Surgical Skills Simulation Laboratory, the resident can practice suturing and surgical knot tying, laparoscopic skills, and advanced laparoscopic skills. We also have a laparoscopic simulator for the residents to practice more advanced laparoscopic techniques as well as participate in animal (pig) labs to perfect surgical technique.

Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (aka FLS) 

FLS establishes a standard set of didactic information and manual skills that serves as a curriculum to guide surgical residents in the performance of basic laparoscopic surgery.  By mastering the curriculum and gathering of skills, it is expected that surgical residents and surgeons will initiate and carry out their performance of laparoscopy more effectively, with greater skill, and with lower complication rates.

Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery (aka FES) 

FES establishes a standard set of didactic information and manual skills designed to teach and evaluate the fundamental knowledge, clinical judgment, and technical skills required in the performance of basic endoscopic surgery.

Quality Improvement & Patient Safety Workshops

Residents work in teams to increase resident knowledge and understanding of and the rationale for quality improvement and performance measures, evidence-based surgery, healthcare policy trends and patient safety initiatives.

Faculty Development Seminars 

This educational opportunity is an interactive lecture-based session given by the guest speaker or program director to the attending faculty and the residents.

The department also provides the following educational tools to all surgical residents:

• Fundamentals of Surgery - American College of Surgeons
• Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS)
• American Board of Surgery (SAGES)
• DECKER Curriculum
• Selected Readings in General Surgery (SRGS) - American College of Surgeons
• ACCESS Surgery
• Basic Life Support Course (BLS)
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support Course (ACLS)
• Advanced Trauma Life Support Course (ATLS)
• Fundamental Critical Care Support Course (FCCS)
• American Board of Surgery Flexible Endoscopy Curriculum (SAGES)
• Introduction to the Practice of Medicine
• Institute for Healthcare Improvement Open School Online Courses

Huntington Hospital (core rotations)
The Huntington hospital rotation has added a vast amount of volume and complex cases to the clinical experience of the WHMC surgical program. The residents are exposed to a breath of complex surgical cases which includes colorectal, plastic, minimally invasive (robotic), vascular, thoracic (esophagus), ENT (endocrine) and Trauma. The residents work closely with the faculty with direct and indirect supervision. Huntington Hospital is a level 2 trauma center which requires a faculty to be in-house 24/7 that supervised the residents. Residents participate in regularly scheduled educational conferences including M&M, tumor board, trauma conference and the SCORE curriculum.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC)
Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center provides additional educational experience in surgical oncology to general surgery residents. PGY2 residents rotate Hepato-Biliary services for one month and Gastric Mixed Tumors for one month. The Department of Surgery at MSKCC comprises more than 100 world-class surgeons dedicated to providing patients with innovative cancer care in sophisticated facilities, among the most advanced in the world. Residents have opportunities to learn new techniques and use modern technologies to diagnose, stage, and treat various cancers under the guidance of the teaching faculty.

Kings County Hospital/ SUNY Downstate
The Kings County Hospital Trauma/Acute Care Surgery service at SUNY Downstate is a level 1 trauma center that evaluates over 250 injured patients monthly. Our Resident rotates for one month during the summer of the PGY 2 year at Kings County Trauma service that provides the resident with the best opportunity to expose to wide Variety of complex traumatic injuries including penetrating trauma.

Cohen’s Children Hospital- Northwell Health
The Pediatric Rotation at Cohen Children's Medical Center offers a broad experience in all aspects of pediatric general surgery with extensive training in minimally invasive surgery, pediatric oncology, inflammatory bowel disease and neonatal surgery. Cohen Children’s is the only tertiary children’s hospital on Long Island. Residents learn to take responsibility for the preoperative, operative, and postoperative management of neonates and children with pediatric general surgery challenges and work with multiple subspecialty colleagues involved in the care of pediatric patients.

Long Island Jewish Medical Center - Northwell Health
North Shore University Hospital—ranked as Long Island’s highest-rated hospital by U.S. News & World Report is Northwell Health’s headquarters for organ transplantation and a leader in the field. With nationally recognized surgeons, a diverse and highly trained support team, and state-of-the-art facilities with telehealth capabilities, transplant department provides seamless care and lifelong support for every patient at every stage. Residents will rotate on Transplant Service to gain familiarity with the diagnosis and management of end-stage liver and kidney disease, solid organ transplantation, organ procurement, immunosuppression, and management of transplant recipients and live donors in the inpatient and outpatient setting.

New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center
The William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center provides comprehensive care to children and adults in New York City and the surrounding area who have sustained burn injuries. One of the largest in the country — treating more than 700 inpatients and 4,000 outpatients each year, the Burn Center is New York’s oldest wound treatment facility. Residents will rotate on burn service to gain familiarity with the diagnosis, therapies and treatment of burn injuries under the guidance of teaching faculty.

The operative experience of the general surgery residents at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center is comprehensive in both quantity and variety of surgical procedures performed.

Home Institution:

• Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

Affiliated Sites:

• Huntington Hospital (Core Rotations)
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (HPB)
• SUNY Downstate (Transplant)
• Kings County Hospital (Trauma)
• Cohen’s Children Hospital (Pediatrics)

The chief residents run the surgical services with increased autonomy with the goal of functioning at an attending level by year’s end to prepare for life after residency. Each chief resident assumes administrative responsibilities during the course of his/her chief year. Residents routinely graduate with over 1,100 cases.

Wyckoff Heights Medical Center

General Surgery
Leaque Ahmed, MD, Chairman of Surgery
Hector DePaz, MD, Program Director
Paritosh Suman, MD, Associate Program Director
Kashif Saeed, MD

Critical Care Surgery
Mohammad Gilani, MD – Chief of  Surgical Critical Care

Vascular Surgery
Marcus D'Ayala, MD – Chief of Vascular Service
Sayed A. Rizvi, MD

Bariatric Surgery
Leaque Ahmed, MD
Paritosh Suman, MD
Kashif Saeed, MD

Plastic Surgery
Norman Morrison, MD, Chief of Plastic Surgery
Ajani Nugent, MD
Nawaiz Ahmad, MD
Clara Rivera, MD

ENT
Bernard Pacella, MD, Chief of ENT

Neurosurgery
Nassir Mansour, MD, Chief of Neurosurgery
Erico Cardoso, MD

Thoracic Surgery
Subroto Paul, MD, Chief of Thoracic Surgery
Matthew Inra, MD

Huntington Hospital

General Surgery
Martin Karpeh, MD, Chairman of Surgery
Robert Zingale, MD, Site Director
Bill Martin, MD, Educational Coordinator, Trauma

Bariatric Surgery
David Buchin, MD
Andrew Godwin, MD

Acute Care/Trauma Surgery
Daniel Galvin, MD, General Surgery/Trauma
Marinel Ardeljan, DO, General Surgery/Trauma

Colorectal Surgery
David Rivadeneira, MD, Chair of Division of Colorectal Surgery
Shirley Shih, MD
Titi Adegboyega, MD
Shabiah Martin, MD

Vascular Surgery
Sarrina Shraga, MD
Melissa Singh, MD
Nicholas Sikalas, MD

Surgical Oncology
Martin Karpeh, MD
Michael Kuncewitch, MD

Thoracic Surgery
Lawrence Glassman, MD

Tareq Alqasas, MD
Graduated 06/30/2023
Trauma and Critical Care fellowship in Westchester Medical Center, NY

Shannon Caesar-Peterson, DO
Graduated 06/30/2023
Burn Fellowship at NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell in July

Amanda Chiu, DO
Graduated 06/30/2023
Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship at Creighton University in Omaha, NE

Nader Estfanous, MD
Graduated 06/30/2023
MIS Fellowship in Cleveland Clinic in Ohio

Dr. Rachel Thibodeau, DO
Graduated 06/30/2023
Hand Microsurgery Fellowship at University of Louisville, Kleiner Institute, Kentucky in July

Anouchka Coste, DO
Graduated 6/30/2022
Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at UCLA Los Angeles in California

Christopher Engler, DO
Graduated 6/30/2022
Trauma/ Acute Care Fellowship at University of Connecticut
Hartford, CT

Katrina Tulla, DO
Graduated 6/30/2022
Minimally Invasive Surgery in Anne Arundel Medical Center
Annapolis, MD

Mohammad Gilani, DO
Graduated 6/30/2021
Critical Care Fellowship in Reading Hospital Tower Health
Reading, PA

Nisarg Mehta, DO
Graduated 6/30/2021
Minimally Invasive Surgery in Esophageal and Lung Institute: Allegheny Health Network
Pittsburgh, PA

Michael Segal, DO
Graduated 6/30/2021
Vascular Fellowship
Newark Beth Israel Hospital in New Jersey

Martha Ayewah, DO
Graduated 6/30/2020
Cosmetic Surgery Fellowship
Los Angeles, CA

Nalin Dayal, DO
Graduated 6/30/2020
Cosmetic Surgery Fellowship
Tampa, FL

Brian Temple, DO
Graduated 6/30/2020
Plastics/Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship
Philadelphia, PA

Jonathan Stahl, DO
Graduated 6/30/2020
Trauma/ Critical Care Fellowship in Allegheny General Hospital
Pittsburgh, PA

Bishoy Emmanuel, DO
Graduated 6/30/2019
Transplant Fellowship at University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA

Carol Kim Le, DO
Graduated 6/30/2019
Private Practice

Jesse Casaubon, DO
Graduated 6/30/2018
Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Brown University
Providence, RI

Erion Qaja, DO
Graduated 6/30/2018
Vascular Fellowship at University of Connecticut
Hartford, CT

Darren Sachs, DO
Graduated 6/30/2018
Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Fox Chase Cancer Center
Philadelphia, PA

Roman Kremen, DO
Graduated 6/30/17
Minimally Invasive Fellowship at Westchester Medical Center
Westchester, NY

J.P. Regan, DO
Graduated 6/30/17
Plastics/Reconstructive Fellowship at St. Joseph's Medical Center
Paterson, NJ

Dina Tabello, DO
Graduated 6/30/17
Trauma/Critical Care Fellowship at University of Connecticut
Hartford, CT

Kathleen Coakley, DO
Graduated 6/30/16
Minimally Invasive Fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center
Charlotte, SC

Michael Hyunh, DO
Graduated 6/30/16
General Surgery Private Practice
VA

Richard Huynh, DO
Graduated 6/30/16
Plastics/Reconstructive Fellowship at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Philadelphia, PA

Thai Wong, DO
Graduated 6/30/16
Critical Care/Acute Care Fellowship
Lehigh Valley, PA