The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Surgery Residency Program was initially established in 1920 and has subsequently trained hundreds of residents through the course of its’ history. The University of Oklahoma Medical Center is the primary teaching institution located in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma City metropolitan population is growing with over 1.4 million inhabitants.

In 2024, the rural surgery track was created with the goal of better equipping general surgeons that desire to practice in a rural community. The rural surgery track was formed with our partner hospital Commanche County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) in Lawton, Oklahoma, which has a population of approximately 90,000 and is located 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. CCMH serves a statistically larger population of Native Americans, Southeast Asians, farmers, and ranchers than is found nationally. This area’s diversity is augmented by two large and historic military installations in the surrounding region. 

The rural surgery track involves eighteen months of training in rural surgery with 6 months spent in the PGY-3 year and 12 months in the PGY-5 year. During this time frame, a portion of the training entails subspecialty experience with orthopedics, obstetrics/gynecology, urology, and includes dedicated endoscopy training with the rural surgery faculty. All of these subspecialties contain areas that a rural surgeon may be required to incorporate if living in a rural community. These areas include experience with acute fracture management, cesarean, ureteral catheter placement, and endoscopic interventions to name a few.

The core rural track faculty consists of six general surgeons including several OU Surgery graduates. CCMH also has cardiac, thoracic, vascular, OB/GYN, urology, and orthopedic surgeons on staff. These subspecialty areas do not have competing residencies which allow for a more robust and well-rounded rural surgery experience.

The remainder of surgical training will be completed in Oklahoma City with the express goal to ensure that rural training does not come at the expense of a resident’s experience in areas such as trauma, critical care, thoracic, vascular, hepatopancreatobiliary, and pediatric surgery to name a few. We believe these skill sets are also equally paramount to success as a rural surgeon.

We accept applications through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), and positions are filled through National Residency Matching Program (NRMP). There are two tracks listed in ERAS and NRMP for the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center with one being the categorical general surgery track and the other being the categorical rural surgery track. Both tracks fulfill all ACGME Surgery Residency Review and American Board of Surgery requirements.

Comanche County Memorial Hospital

Comanche County Memorial Hospital (CCMH) is located in Lawton, Ok, approximately 100 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. CCMH provides comprehensive and advanced healthcare to citizens of Southwest Oklahoma. General Surgery residents spend 1 month during the third year of training at CCMH. The surgery department at CCMH provides robust robotic, endoscopic, and surgical training.