A Message from the Program Director
Dear applicant:
Thank you for your interest in the Surgical Residency Program at Easton Hospital. We have a fully accredited five-year residency program in surgery. Our Surgical Residency program has a rich tradition and has produced more than 120 surgeons since its inception 61 years ago. Inspected in January of 2007, our program has a full 4-year accreditation with commendation. We credit our continued accreditation to the dedication of our staff, faculty and residents who continually strive for excellence.
Easton Hospital is a 350-bed community hospital located in the Lehigh Valley, sixty-five miles north of Philadelphia and sixty miles west of New York City. It is less than thirty minutes from the heart of skiing, hiking and camping in the Pocono Mountains, but is still a short drive to New York City, Philadelphia and New Jersey shore attractions. Attractive apartments in the Easton/Bethlehem area with rental rates starting at approximately $850 monthly, plus utilities, are readily available.
We accept two applicants into the Categorical Program each year. We also accept two applicants into the Preliminary Program at the PGY-1 level as well as a PGY-1 Designated Preliminary resident and one applicant in the second year Preliminary Program. Our American Board of Surgery qualifying examination board pass rate is 100% and the certifying examination pass rate is 80% over the last ten years.
Applicants who are not US citizens or permanent residents will only be sponsored for J-1 visa application. We do not support H1/4-B application under any circumstances.
Easton Hospital is affiliated with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Hahnemann University Hospital where our PGY-2, 3 and 4 year level residents rotate during their training. Our program provides a furnished apartment as well as parking while in Philadelphia for these rotations. We also have off-site rotations at Lehigh Valley Hospital Center in Allentown, PA where residents rotate in their PGY-2 year for burns and trauma and in their PGY-3 year for transplant.
Research begins during the PGY-1 year and continues throughout your residency. Our research department is extremely active and assists our residents in all research activities. Our residents have participated in presentations at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, the Southeastern Surgical Congress and at the SAGES National Conference. They have also presented locally and regionally. These presentations have culminated in publication of their research in peer reviewed journals.
There were approximately 19,000 surgical procedures performed last year. Our advanced ambulatory suite includes four operating rooms, four endoscopy suites and a dedicated stereotactic biopsy suite. We have two dedicated minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery suites and one operating room dedicated to endovascular surgery.
Residents are on call approximately every fourth night, however this can vary depending on vacation schedules. During the senior year, the Chief resident takes call from home.
At Easton Hospital, we are committed to providing an excellent education to our resident staff. Our philosophy is to treat residents as post-graduate students and our goal is to educate and train them to be excellent surgeons for the future. For the last five years, our program has consistently matched with the top 10 applicants on the rank order list. Applications are only accepted through ERAS.
Sincerely,
Harjeet Kohli, MD, MRCP, FACS, FRCS
Director, Surgical Residency Program