Hartford Hospital, the primary teaching hospital for UConn, is accredited for a two-year Acute Care Surgery Fellowship by the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) Committee on Acute Care Surgery. The Acute Care Surgery Fellowship consists of 12 months of Surgical Critical Care and 12 months of Emergency Surgery, Elective Surgery, and Trauma Surgery. During the Surgical Critical Care Year, the ACS fellow rotates for six months in the Trauma/General Surgery ICU and will spend one month in the Pediatric ICU at Connecticut Children's. The remainder of the year will be spent rotating through the Neuro-Trauma ICU, the Cardiothoracic Surgery ICU, and the Palliative Care Service at Hartford Hospital. During the second fellowship year, the ACS fellow rotates through the Trauma Service, the Emergency General Surgery Service, the Orthopaedic, Thoracic, Neurosurgery, Transplant and Vascular Surgery Services.
Hartford Hospital has had a fellowship in surgical critical care since 1987 and was accredited by the ACGME in 1990. Seventy-one fellows have completed the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship and the pass rate for the American Board of Surgery examination in surgical critical care has been 100% over the past five years. Two of our four available positions in Surgical Critical Care are reserved for the first year of our Acute Care Surgery Fellowship. The applicant may also enter the program through the alternate route of having successfully completed a Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at an accredited institution.
Hartford Hospital is an 867 licensed bed American College of Surgeons Level I trauma center, home to LIFE STAR, the state’s aeromedical service. There were about 2000 trauma admissions in 2012, over 30,000 operative procedures, and an average of 100,000 ED visits per year. Hartford Hospital is a transplant center and is nationally certified as a regional referral center for wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Hartford Hospital is the CEMP (Center for Emergency Medical Preparedness) for the northern half of Connecticut.
Hartford Hospital has a 12 bed Surgical General/Trauma Surgery Intensive Care Unit, an 18 bed Cardiothoracic Surgery Intensive Care Unit, and an 18 bed Neuro-Intensive Care Unit, all of which are staffed by members of our Surgical Critical Care team.
Hartford Hospital figures prominently in the educational programs of the American College of Surgeons: the inaugural institution for the ATOM course is an ACS accredited Level I Education Institute. The Center for Education, Simulation and Innovation (CESI) at Hartford Hospital is a comprehensive versatile 20,000 square foot multimillion-dollar facility dedicated to simulation and skills training for Hartford HealthCare and the region.
The Acute Care Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Connecticut is committed to enhancing the recruitment, retention, and professional development of underrepresented groups. As our population becomes more ethnically and racially diverse, we continue to build a program that reflects the diversity of our surrounding communities. Our program strives to provide its residents with the tools necessary to deliver compassionate and culturally competent care through mentorship and educational initiatives.