Resident Research Day

Each spring we have Resident Research Day (RRD), which is a day where residents and postdocs in the Department of Surgery can show off their research efforts. Here, residents and postdocs formally present their research projects as oral or poster presentations. A different Visiting Professor participates in Resident Research Day each year.

Categorical residents are required to submit a research proposal in the winter and present their project during Resident Research Day. Pre-existing work is acceptable, but novel research created for RRD also is encouraged. This frequently also results in this work being presented and published in other forums including presentations at local, regional, or national meetings and publication in peer reviewed journals.

A peer-reviewed publication authored by UVA surgery residents and faculty examines the success of our RRD:

Dengel LT, Smith PW, Kron IL, Schirmer BD, Slingluff CL Jr, Schroen AT. Resident research forums stimulate novel research within general surgical training programs. J Surg Educ. 66(3):146-51, 2009.

All Faculty and Residents in the Department of Surgery are expected to attend RRD, which is also well attended by other departments, other lab personnel, and medical students. Typically twelve abstracts are chosen for oral presentation and competition. The remaining abstracts are entered in the poster competition. Judges are comprised of faculty members and the Visiting Professor. Monetary prizes are awarded to the top three oral and poster presentations. RRD ends with a dinner held at The Colonnade Club located on the UVA West Lawn, Pavillion VII.

Our 22nd annual RRD was held on May 18, 2023 and was comprised of oral presentations from 12 residents as well as well as poster presentations from 30 residents and postdocs. The 2023 RRD Guest Lecturer was Edith Tzeng, MD, Chair and Professor of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, who presented “Working Toward Ideal Vascular Conduits – The Role of The Vascular Surgeon”.

Some candid photos from 2023 RRDs: