Chairman's Message

Welcome to the University of South Florida Department of Surgery Web Site. I'm proud to tell you about our department, its people, its hospitals and its mission. We're different from some other well known departments and I'd like you to know about the things that distinguish us.

First, we're a young department in a young medical school. The USF College of Medicine was sounded in 1971 and has had great success in establishing itself as a rapidly maturing and sought after institution for medical education. Our youth means that our faculty come from many other institutions. Inbreeding is not a problem here. Our faculty members have trained at some of the nation's premier programs and each of them has brought with him or her a desire for excellence and a rich heritage. A diverse, energetic group of teachers make for an environment of growth and ferment.

Our mission is clearly stated: the department is committed to the "growth and maturation of the young." If a new program doesn't benefit a student, a resident, a fellow, or a young faculty member, then it isn't likely to be held in high regard. We believe in our trainees and we seek to support each of them in a thoughtful, individual way. Few departments have a stated ethic, but we do.

We have a lot of work to do. With five major teaching hospitals in our orbit, there's lots of surgery and lots of surgical research in our mix. We enjoy privileges at All Children's Hospital in St Petersburg, the Bay Pines Veteran's Administration Hospital in Pinellas County, the James Haley Veteran's Administration Hospital in Tampa, the Tampa General Hospital and the Moffitt Cancer Center, one of the top cancer facilities in the country. Our trainees finish our program with a wide experience in surgery and its subspecialties.

We're a hands on, hard working, straight ahead department. We take our responsibilities and our commitment to excellence seriously. That said, we believe that surgery and learning how to do it should be fun. There are few things that a person can do that come close to the compelling, captivating nature of surgery done well. We hold this art and science to be important and treat those who share this belief with respect and admiration.

Since surgery is both an art and a science, we intend to make powerful contributions to the understanding of diseases and the strategies to cure them. We encourage, but do not require, residents to spend two years in basic science laboratories during their training. Our faculty is committed to being major participants to the literature.

We think that a surgeon with broad interests and passions is more likely to make these contributions than a person narrowly defined. We encourage rest and play and a thoughtful curious view of the world. If you'd like to read more about this approach to surgery, you can find it in a book entitled "Across the Red Line."

In the pages that follow you will read about our different divisions, training programs, research opportunities and clinical enterprises. My hope is that you'll find the University of South Florida Department of Surgery a place that matches your interests and ambitions. I'm eager to hear your comments about our programs, people and mission.

David J. Smith, Jr., M.D.
Richard G. Connar Professor and Chairman
Department of Surgery
University of South Florida