The Surgical Exploration and Discovery program, or "SEAD", was founded by the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2012 and launched at Dalhousie University in 2016.

 

Dalhousie SEAD was started to:

1. Provide early surgical exposure for first-year medical students to all surgical disciplines, and

2. Assist medical students with career minded decisions by showcasing the clinical and non-clinical lifestyle of the surgical specialties.

 

As a SEAD participant, you will embark on a unique intensive summer elective that will provide varied exposure to the field of surgery. Over the course of two weeks, you will have the opportunity to rotate through 11 surgical specialties, learn basic surgical techniques through skills labs and simulations, and hear directly from surgeons and surgical residents during daily seminars.

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1. Electives: Each student will rotate through a half-day in each of the participating surgical specialties (click here for list of specialties). Students will also get to experience a call night in one of the specialties.

2. Skills labs and simulations: Students will learn basic surgical techniques (anastomosis, arthroscopy, hand typing, laparoscopy, suturing) during a day in the skills lab. Students will also gain exposure to trauma skills (primary survey, basic airway, chest tube, IV/IO insertions) and participate in a trauma simulation. Finally, students will become familiar with common surgical procedures (below knee amputation, laparotomy, thoracotomy) during cadaveric sessions.

3. Lunchtime talks: Students will attend daily lunchtime seminars on different topics, such as interesting cases, resident lifestyle, CaRMS, surgical research, and career advice.

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Dalhousie SEAD would like to thank the Department of Surgery at Dalhousie University for their generous support.