General Surgery Residency Program
A note from the Program Director...
Welcome to the MercyOne Des Moines General Surgery Residency Program, an ACGME-accredited program established in 1921.
Some 30 fellowship-trained faculty include vascular surgery, trauma-ICU, breast surgery, surgical oncology, pediatric surgery, and cardiothoracic surgery. We have two external rotations to ensure exceptional training opportunities focusing on Burn at the University of Iowa and Transplant at the University of Nebraska.
Our tertiary referral facility features 650 beds in the main hospital (22 operating rooms) and approximately 100 beds in a nearby community hospital (6 operating rooms). We average ≥20,000 surgical procedures annually, of which >7,000 are in general surgery. These are well divided among classical open, laparoscopic, thoracoscopic, and robotic operations. There are over 6,000 endoscopies annually and nearly 5,000 deliveries annually. Our facility cares for some 2,000 trauma cases annually and diagnoses the same number of cancers.
We believe that the comprehensive didactic program is of equal importance in preparation for the practice of state-of-the-art general surgery. Therefore, our core didactics is both mandatory and free of clinical interruptions. We have a state-of-the-art simulation facility accessible to residents at any time.
I invite you to explore this site better to familiarize yourself with the comprehensive offerings of our program. Find out why our reputation for excellence in training is well-deserved. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further information.
Dr. Jan Franko, MD, PhD, FACS, FSSO, DABS
General Surgery Program Director
A note from the Chief Resident...
Greetings from MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center’s General Surgery Residency program. Our residency has existed for over 100 years and trained many fine surgeons. Many of our graduates have entered private practice, others have engaged in research opportunities, and many others have pursued additional fellowship training. As we continue to grow and improve, we look forward to adding new residents to our close-knit group.
MercyOne’s most appealing attributes are the multiple general surgery and subspecialty surgery opportunities available to our residents. We have multiple general surgeons who work in both the ambulatory and inpatient setting, Trauma/Critical Care, Colorectal, Surgical Oncology, Transplant, Pediatric Surgery, Vascular Surgery and Cardiothoracic. We are continuing to implement a robotics component to our curriculum.
Our residents, after completing their fifth year, pursued multiple subspecialty and fellowship opportunities. In the last five years we have had residents continue their training in Vascular surgery, Cardiothoracic, Trauma/Acute Care as well as many working as both private practice and hospital employed surgeons. All of our graduates leave this program with an abundance of surgical experience and the confidence and experience to practice.
The MercyOne General Surgery Residency is an excellent program and our residents are a cohesive and close-knit group. The greatest strength of this program has always been the people we bring in and the sense of family between our residents. We value comradery and cooperation among our residents, and work hard to instill those qualities in our new interns.
Testimonial
“MercyOne Medical Center has been, and continues to be, an excellent community program for General Surgery training. In addition to a large case volume and a wide breadth of in-house rotations, the medical staff are one-of-a-kind and very dedicated to resident education. Our residents are ready for community practice (like me), or make competitive fellowship candidates on completion of the program. I wish you the best of luck on your residency journey!”
- Caitlin Lund, DO - Graduate 2022
How to Apply
If you are interested in applying to the General Surgery program, please click here to see the requirements for an audition rotation or to apply for a residency position.