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Check out our facilities, faculty and more using our online program guides.
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For any additional questions, please contact Ashley Vasquez, program administrator, by phone or email:
Welcome letter
Welcome! Austin is a great place to train for many reasons – the city itself has a dynamic blend of history and modern culture. Known as the "Live Music Capital of the World", Austin is home to many festivals such as SXSW and ACL. Iconic food trucks and world famous BBQ showcase the vast array of culinary delights. Outdoor activities abound in the Texas Hill Country – from paddleboards to hiking, horseback riding to cycling. The city's motto of "Keep Austin Weird" reflects the fun, innovative vibe of the city.
Aileen Ebadat, MD
Program Director, St. David’s Healthcare General Surgery Program
About Our Program
St. David's General Surgery Residency Program offers high case volume exposure to cutting edge surgical technology and premier faculty that have training lineages from around the country. This offers residents the unique opportunity to not only gain extensive surgical experience to grow their skillset, but also, networking opportunities to assist with future training and career growth. As a relatively new program (started in 2021), we are proud to announce that all five of our inaugural class graduates matched into fellowship.
Our residents are operating from day one with the intentional design of our program to ensure open, laparoscopic, and robotic training opportunities. The residency is primarily based out of St. David's South Austin Medical Center, but has other training sites in the city to allow for experience in different practice environments.Faculty dedication and passion for teaching is palpable and has been noted by our residents to be one of the many strengths of our program.
Developing surgical leaders is our goal, and mentorship is critical to that endeavor. Our program matches residents with faculty mentors to foster guidance and growth. Scholarly activity is encouraged and supported with access to a wealth of resources to support our surgeon trainee research interests.
I have personally been involved with this residency program since inception – from writing the application and serving as associate program director, to now having the honor of leading the program. Surgical training is an apprenticeship, an art as much as a science, deeply rooted in the importance of legacy – built by lives touched, skills passed on, and values inspired. I look forward to sharing our training experience at St. David's with you.
List of leadership and faculty
Aileen Ebadat, MD, Program Director
Aileen Ebadat, MD, graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Houston-Clear Lake with a Bachelor of Science in biology. She earned her medical degree from University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and completed her general surgery residency at The University of Texas at Austin where she served as an administrative chief resident and received the 2012 Resident Educator of the Year award. Dr. Ebadat moved to Nashville to complete a trauma and surgical critical care fellowship at Vanderbilt University. Throughout her training, she actively served in leadership roles and was frequently honored by her peers.
In 2016, she moved back to Austin to join St. David’s South Austin Trauma Surgeons, where she now serves as the Associate Trauma Medical Director. Dr. Ebadat has been published numerous times in medical journals and texts on topics such as traumatic brain injury, transfusions and organ donation. She is certified in Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma and Advanced Trauma Operative Management. She is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, in addition to being a member of the Texas Medical Association and Travis County Medical Society. Dr. Ebadat enjoys helping others achieve their goals and has served as a mentor, tutor and equestrian instructor.
Curriculum and rotation schedule
Training and research
At St. David’s Healthcare Graduate Medical Education Surgery Residency Program, we aim to train well-rounded, capable physicians that provide quality healthcare services for patients and families in the community. At St. David's Healthcare we believe that we should provide exceptional care to every patient every day with a spirit of warmth, friendliness, and personal pride.
Training
Over the course of our program, residents will train under board-certified surgeons who serve as role models for our core values. Residents will be expected to demonstrate the mission of St. David’s Healthcare through the provision of patient-centered care in everyday clinical activities. St. David’s Healthcare Graduate Medical Education General Surgery Residency Program hopes to instill in its residents a desire for lifelong learning and scholarly activity, as well as provide them with the tools and experiences necessary to become competent, autonomous general surgeons.
The goals of our General Surgery Residency Program are to provide exceptional care and financial stability in order to train competent physicians in the practice of General Surgery. These goals are driven by our values of integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, and excellence (I.C.A.R.E.).
Research
HCA GME has commitment to scholarly activity, based on more than 30 million patient encounters each year, that bridges the gap between complimenting evidence and exceptional patient care. Merging the rigor of ACGME accreditation standards with high patient touch, our residents deliver care rooted in evidence-based medicine that demonstrates our mission to care for the improvement of human life.
Conference schedule
St. David's Healthcare Graduate Medical Education has a strong rigorous academic focus. Residents are trained by board-certified physicians utilizing evidence based educational curriculum.
Didactic sessions include: M & M conference, journal club, interactive computer modules, ABSITE, case conferences, grand rounds, tumor board, sub-specialty lectures, case reviews, root cause analysis interactive workshops, and collaborative care practice initiatives.
In addition to weekly and monthly didactic sessions, our program utilizes daily multidisciplinary bedside rounding focusing on the healthcare team approach to more actively engage the patients and their care team thus improving collaboration and patient outcomes.
Resident are also encouraged to participate in hospital and program level committees. Hospital and Program level committee involvement fosters overall professional development of our residents as they participate in “task force” leveled conversation.
Curriculum and rotation schedule
Subjective to change.
PGY-1
- General Surgery - 6 rotations
- Trauma AM - 2 rotations
- Trauma PM - 2 rotations
- Plastic Surgery - 2 rotations
PGY-2
- STICU - 2-4 rotations
- Surgical Oncology - 2-4 rotations
- Thoracic surgery - 2-4 rotations
- Urology - 2-4 rotations
- Vascular surgery - 2-4 rotations
PGY-3
- General surgery - 6 rotations
- Trauma AM - 2 rotations
- Trauma PM - 2 rotations
- Colorectal surgery - 2 rotations
PGY-4
- Thoracic surgery - 2-4 rotations
- Vascular surgery - 2-4 rotations
- Head/neck - 2-4 rotations
- Pediatric surgery - 2-4 rotations
- Transplant surgery - 2-4 rotations
PGY-5
- General surgery - 4 rotations
- Surgical Oncology - 2 rotations
- Trauma AM - 2 rotations
- Trauma PM - 2 rotations
- Colorectal surgery - 2 rotations
Salary and benefits
Our training program offers a competitive resident benefits program to ensure residents and their families are taken care of to address multiple life circumstances.
Salaries (AY 26-27)
| Year | Salary | On-Call Meals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGY1 | $67,517 | $950 | $68,467 |
| PGY2 | $69,534 | $950 | $70,484 |
| PGY3 | $71,968 | $950 | $72,918 |
| PGY4 | $75,213 | $950 | $76,163 |
| PGY5 | $78,229 | $950 | $79,179 |
*These amounts are subject to taxation.
Resident salaries are determined on an annual basis. In addition to the amounts above, new residents received up to $500 for orientation.
Professional liability insurance
Professional liability insurance coverage is provided during the training period within the scope of the program. Professional liability insurance coverage is provided for the purpose of program training and does not extend to moonlighting activities or other activities.
Other Benefits
- GME provided Laptop
GME provided Cell Phone
GME paid Residency Training License
GME provided DEA number
HCA Healthcare total rewards program offering flexible benefit options for residents and their dependents (costs may vary)
- Health and Medical benefits available on day one
Wellness 24/7 support Employee Assistance Program
Paid Time Off
FAQs
While Austin has long been known for music, there’s so much more. Beautiful outdoor spaces tucked inside the city limits and sprawling views in the Hill Country, unique shopping districts, cultural activities and exciting food venues, all come with a laid-back, family-friendly vibe.
Live music capital of the world
In Austin, you can find live music everywhere. From historic nightclubs to neighborhood cafes, food trucks to coffee houses, live music can be heard any day of the week. And then there are outdoor music festivals, such the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which spans two weekends in the fall.
Food scene
Austin’s food scene is as eclectic as the city. Several weekly farmer’s markets offer fresh produce and artisan food items. Austin has a flourishing food truck culture, where many local and national favorites got their start. Breakfast tacos and barbeque blend seamlessly with adventurous culinary fusion menus.
Get outdoors
Austin’s climate beckons you to get outside all year long and offers everything from lakes for boating or paddle boarding, trails for biking and walking, and glistening natural swimming holes, like Barton Springs Pool, Hamilton Pool and Blue Hole in Wimberley. The crown jewel is the Butler Hike and Bike Trail, located in the heart of downtown Austin, where walkers, joggers and bikers share the trail surrounding the shores of Lake Lady Bird.
Arts and entertainment
Austin has a vibrant arts community that includes the Austin Symphony, Ballet Austin and Austin Lyric Opera, as well as performing arts venues including the Long Center, Paramount Theater, and Bass Concert Hall. Austin boasts several museums and cultural centers, including the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum, Blanton Museum of Art, George Washington Carver Museum, The Contemporary Austin, the Mexican American Cultural Center, The Thinkery and more.
Sports
Two major league soccer teams, a minor league baseball team, and the only F1 racetrack in the USA are all major players in the Austin sports scene. The University of Texas regularly fields nationally ranked teams in football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, swimming, and track and field. Youth sports leagues offer opportunities for kids of all ages to get in the game.
Yes. The program facilitates an environment and provides residents with the appropriate resources to actively participate in clinical and/or laboratory research. The program will have a structured didactic curriculum to instruct residents on the fundamentals of research. Specific research skills in the curriculum include: evidence-based medicine; medical literature interpretation; study design, implementation and preparation for publication; informed consent for subject enrollment in research studies; Institutional Review Board – function and purpose; and basic statistics. This curriculum is supported by John Washington, the HCA Central and West Texas Division GME Research Director.
Resident have access to HCA's full-service electronic library including over 7800 e-journals, and an extensive collection of over 2175 e-textbooks as well as Up-to-date, MEDLINE searches, and full-text of EBSCO journal database as well as access and utilization of a GME Research Data Warehouse (GMERDW). The GMERDW is an enterprise-wide data model, implemented as a comprehensive, highly searchable data warehouse housing clinical and financial data from across the country. The GMERDW includes both inpatient and outpatient data related to our continuum of care, updated 6 times a day and provides validated data from the past 48 months. Residents and faculty will have virtual access to their scholarly activity including the ability to ask clinical questions via a data clear form and specific data sets along with high performance analytical tools such as SPSS, SAS, R and Tableau.
Throughout the duration of the residency program, residents are paired with faculty members based on interest (e.g. clinical research vs. laboratory research). Residents and faculty members work in a collaborative manner to develop and initiate scholarly activity.