Benefits

Intern: No annual meeting funding; $750 towards a laptop to facilitate academic productivity, EBM, Web-based curriculum, etc.  This money may also be used for the examination fee for Step III.

JAR: Annual meeting funding ($1,600), loupes (contingent upon completion of preparation for academic time). For some residents the research preparation contingency should be waived (i.e. those slotted to do a SAR-1 year prior to research, or no research at all).

SAR-1, SAR-2, chief: Annual meeting ($1,600), $300 education resource allowance.

Research fellows: Annual meeting ($1,600), no educational resource funded.

The purpose of this policy is to provide an outline of the allowable time for vacation and academic or scientific meeting attendance during the academic year (July 1 - June 30 annually).

Any unused time may not roll over to the next academic year without prior written approval from the program director and chair.

In general, for clinical and research residents in good standing (at the PGY2 level and above), the program will fund one trip per academic year for the purpose of attending an annual scientific meeting.  Funding for additional travel should be arranged through the research mentor and approved by the program director (see below).

Note:  Conference travel needs to be pre-approved by the program director regardless of whether or not the travel is reimbursed.  Written requests for approval for travel must be initiated 35 days prior to the travel. 

Conference expenses are to be submitted to the program coordinator immediately upon returning from a meeting. To ensure the accuracy of Duke’s general ledger, all reimbursement transactions should be posted within 30 days. Out-of-pocket expenses greater than one year old will not be reimbursed without approval from the appropriate management center.

• Annual meetings: AAS/SUS or other specialty society for research fellows; others to be determined by program director taking into account requests. Travel will be generally limited to the main general surgery and related subspecialty major meetings in the continental United States. International meetings must be approved by the program director and if approved, will be funded at the domestic rate.  Approval is required for all travel. This benefit is contingent upon academic productivity in the preceding year (abstracts, book chapters, publications, grant writing, etc. as outlined by the program director).
• Educational resource allowance: For the purchase of educational materials including textbooks or computer-based educational materials germane to general surgery and its related subspecialties. Unused funds do not carry over. Approval of the program director is required prior to purchase.
• Presentation-associated meetings: Travel for the purpose of oral presentations limited to the minimum time required for travel and presentation. For most destinations in the eastern United States, this would involve travel the night before and returning on the evening of the presentation.
• Laptop: For residents leaving the program prior to graduation, the $750 is to be refunded.
• Loupes: For residents leaving the program prior to graduation, the full cost of the loupes is to be refunded. 

Attending an annual academic or scientific conference will be limited to residents demonstrating academic productivity in the prior year and who are in good standing with respect to their administrative activities.

The specific criteria to earn this benefit are:

• Submission of publication, acceptance of an abstract, or submission of a grant.
• Other efforts such as intense involvement in research projects that have not resulted in either of these will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis with the program director
• ABSITE scores above the 50th percentile
• Conference attendance exceeding 80 percent and completion of 80 percent of SCORE assignments
• Up-to-date ACGME case logging
• Resident must be in good standing as determined by the program director

In general, each junior assistant surgical resident through chief resident can be permitted to attend meetings for the presentation of scientific data at oral (non-poster) sessions for a period of no more than three full days (inclusive of travel in the continental United States) with the approval of the program director, for up to two meetings in addition to the allowed annual meeting. 

Research residents will not be capped to a maximum number of meetings per year; one meeting per year will be funded by the program.

All residents wishing to attend an academic or scientific meeting must have approval by the program director and have arranged for appropriate coverage of their service in their absence through the administrative chief resident and the program director of general surgery or his designee.

All residents must receive advance permission in writing through the Academic/Scientific Meeting Approval Form and return it to the general surgery residency office a minimum of 35 days prior to travel.

First year residents may be approved for an academic or scientific meeting if approved by the program director under special circumstances and on a case-by-case basis.

• Intern: Two weeks of vacation
• JAR, SAR-1, SAR-2: Two 2-week vacation periods
• Chief resident: Two weeks vacation time plus adequate time for interviews (interview time must be preapproved by the program director and administrative chief)
• Surgical research fellow: Four weeks per academic year and permission of the supervising laboratory director or administrator

Note: Any extended period of time away not involving your set vacation time must be pre-approved by the program director.

Health, dental, and vision insurance are available to trainees and their families from the first recognized day of training. For insurance options and costs, visit hr.duke.edu.