General Surgery PA

Surgery & Critical Care PA Duty Under Instruction

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U.S. Army-Baylor DScPAS – Surgery and Critical Care PA Residency

Mission

To develop premier PAs with technical proficiency, excellent clinical judgment, and unparalleled leadership skills.

Vision

To set the benchmark for post-professional PA education through the pursuit of academic and clinical excellence in surgery, trauma, and critical care. Graduates will be clinically and technically excellent military surgical PAs — top-tier leaders in combat casualty care and education, prepared to provide excellent surgical care in any environment across the continuum of care.

Program Aims

Develop surgical PAs capable of providing competent and complete surgical care in deployed and garrison settings
Grow leaders that will shape surgical care during future conflict
Promote military-relevant surgical research to help save lives on the battlefield or humanitarian missions

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Program Overview

Army-Baylor Doctor of Science in PA Studies (DScPAS) – Tri-service Program collocated with the General Surgery Residency Program
Located at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX
18 months in length
Cohort size: 7 students total — 3 Army / 2 Navy / 2 Air Force
Three components: Didactics, Clinical Rotation Practicum, and Research Concentration
Terminal degree: Doctor of Science (DSc) from Baylor University
Residency Certificate in Surgery & Critical Care from San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium (SAUSHEC)

Didactics

Weekly (Monday, 0800–1100)

Surgical Council on Resident Education (SCORE) topic-focused Didactics
Morbidity and Mortality Conference

PA Residency Academics

Bimonthly Simulation (SIM) Training
Monthly Journal Club
Monthly Trauma Skills Lab Training
Quarterly Cadaver Lab

Skills Curriculum

Fundamental of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS)
Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery
Robotic Surgery First Assistant Certification

Rotation-Specific Academics

SCORE curriculum with quiz for each clinical rotation

General & Vascular Surgery Teams

Tuesday: Cold Case Conference-preoperative conference with mock orals component
Wednesday: SCORE topic didactic, A team robotics lab
Thursday: Surgical Oncology Tumor Board or Multi-disciplinary Conference
Friday: Patient Care Conference or Technical Skills Conference

Trauma / STICU / BICU Rotations

Daily morning report
Daily lunchtime academics
Wednesday: Trauma Quality Improvement conference

Annually

American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination (ABSITE)

Required Courses

Orientation / Intro to Research
Advanced Burn Life Support
Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma +
Fundamentals of Critical Care

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Clinical Rotation Schedule

PA1 Year

Orientation / Introduction to Research
Trauma Surgery
Fundamentals of STICU
Emergency General Surgery 1
Burn Critical Care
Neurosurgery
Research Month
Fundamentals of General Surgery (Fort Cavazos)
Intermediate General Surgery (Fort Cavazos)
Advanced General Surgery
Advanced STICU
Emergency General Surgery 2
Vascular Surgery

PA2 Year

Operational Rotation: Joint Emergency Military Exercise (JEMX)
Trauma Surgery 2 (SOD)
Research Month
Burn Surgery
Interventional Radiology
Plastic Surgery
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Nights Team
Subspecialty General Surgery:
- Colorectal Surgery
- Bariatric Surgery
- Surgical Oncology
December: Baylor Graduation / Out-Processing

Research / Dissertation

All students complete an IRB-approved research project. Required deliverables include:

Manuscript
PowerPoint presentation
Research poster
Oral defense

Past Research Topics

Whole blood / VTE / futility criteria
Electrolytes in trauma and critical care
Burn care and wounds
General surgery topics

Select Publications from Program Graduates

Hout, B., Van Gent, J. M., Clements, T., Rausa, R., Kaminski, C., Puzio, T., Rizzo, J., & Cotton, B. (2025). Does whole blood resuscitation increase risk for venous thromboembolism in trauma patients? A comparison of whole blood versus component therapy in 3,468 patients. Shock (Augusta, Ga.), 63(3), 406–410. https://doi.org/10.1097/SHK.0000000000002508
Meier, H., McMahon, R., Hout, B., Randles, J., Aden, J., & Rizzo, J. A. (2025). Comparing Diagnostic Accuracy of ChatGPT to Clinical Diagnosis in General Surgery Consults: A Quantitative Analysis of Disease Diagnosis. Military medicine, 190(9-10), e1858–e1862. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usaf168
Huang, J. E., Holland, S. R., Patrick, J., Piper, L. C., & Sams, V. G. (2020). Predictive survival factors of the traumatically injured on venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A Bayesian model. The journal of trauma and acute care surgery, 88(1), 153–159. https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000002457

Program Awards & Recognition

SAUSHEC Commander’s Research Award – Graduate Allied Health

Navy trainees have received this annual award in recognition of outstanding research excellence:

2023 — Rebecca Rausa (Surgery)
2024 — Brittany Hout (Surgery)
2026 — Kemi Mogaji (Surgery)

Woodson Scott Jones Junior Resident of the Year Award

2025 — Lindsay Jensen

Professional Development

Journal Club — Surgical PA Residents are required to host journal club twice during their residency
Presentation at Local Conference — Specialty continuing medical education lecture at a local conference
Teaching opportunities — Surgical PA Residents are involved in teaching on service transitional year interns, medical students, and PA students. They also facilitate suture and trauma lab twice yearly for the Interservice PA Program.
Leadership opportunities
Mentorship — The program has a formal research mentorship program utilizing alumni surgical PAs

Navy Duty Under Instruction (DUINS)

https://www.med.navy.mil/Naval-Medical-Leader-and-Professional-Development-Command/Professional-Development/Graduate-Programs/Medical-Service-Corps-Graduate-Programs/

Military Requirements

Minimum 2 years active duty prior to DUINS board
Must be in window for PCS (coordinate with Detailer)
Meet physical, medical, and deployability standards
Must be in regular or selected promotion status
Service obligation: 3.5-year payback (1st year = 3 years ADO; 6 months added per additional 6 months)

Academic & Eligibility Requirements

Active duty only — civilian, guard, and reserve not eligible
Must be selected by your service’s DUINS board
Master’s Degree in PA Studies
Minimum cumulative GPA 3.0 (undergraduate + graduate)
GRE score ≥ 300 (verbal + quantitative combined)

Application Timeline

DUINS Process

March — DUINS message released
April — Interview with program
June — Application due to Specialty Leader / NMLDPC
September/October — Board results

Baylor University

January — Online application to Baylor Graduate School (acceptance required prior to program start)