General Surgery Residency

Thank you for your interest in the Surgical Residency Program at Mercy Catholic Medical Center (MCMC), Mercy Fitzgerald. In choosing MCMC, you are choosing to join a team of very motivated, hardworking and intelligent surgical residents and faculty members who will take you under their wing. Since 1956, our Program has had a rich history of training future surgeons.

Mercy Fitzgerald, located in Darby, Pa., is a 188-bed teaching hospital that offers advanced acute care services in Delaware County and Southwest Philadelphia. Approximately 4,700 operative cases are performed here each year. The Surgical Residency at Mercy offers a wide variety of surgical experience for training residents. It provides a wonderful learning environment for each incoming resident and provides the tools needed to graduate with the knowledge and confidence to perform at a high level.

A great strength of the program is that all surgical specialties are incorporated into the Department of Surgery. Residents receive an integrated experience, learning to manage a broad variety of conditions that impact upon general surgery. A rich variety of general surgery experience is available including gastrointestinal, minimal access, GI endoscopy, trauma, oncologic, thoracic, cardiac and vascular surgery. Additional training in pediatric surgery is provided by a rotation at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Surgical critical care and trauma surgery experience is obtained at the University of Pennsylvania. Transplant Surgery experience is obtained through Thomas Jefferson University.

The skills learned both inside and outside of the operating room during the early stages are invaluable assets that only serve as a stepping-stone for continued development throughout the entire five years. The hospital offers a variety of surgical pathology that gives each resident a thorough understanding of many areas in general surgery. 

The hospital has well-trained, highly experienced general, vascular, and thoracic surgeons who provide excellent education for the entire team. Mercy Fitzgerald has several rooms running for not only general and vascular surgery, but also neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, podiatry, and head and neck surgery.

Mercy Catholic Medical Center holds accreditations from both the Commission on Cancer and National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Mercy Fitzgerald is designated as a center for excellence for bariatric surgery. State-of-the-art equipment including the Davinci robot is available for utilization in a wide variety of cases. Advanced minimally invasive surgery, both abdominal and thoracic surgery, are performed and recently Mercy Fitzgerald has become a center of excellence for bariatric surgery. State-of-the-art equipment is available for utilization in a wide variety of cases, and this only serves to enhance overall patient care. The strides made over the past few years are merely a testament to the continued growth that this program exhibits. It truly is an amazing experience that will give each resident everything needed to be an excellent surgeon.

Our residents benefit from the Thursday morning protected time which includes M&M (Morbidity and Mortality), Grand Rounds and clinical science presentations which are extremely interactive and a great learning experience as faculty members, residents and medical students all come together to learn.

I am quite proud that on completion of our Residency Program, MCMC graduates can enter independent practice or pursue a fellowship of their choice. I thank you for your interest in our program.

Karen Kish, MD 
Program Directory, General Surgery Residency Program