Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Honors First Graduating Class of Residency Program

Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West congratulates the inaugural graduating class of its General Surgery Residency Program, which launched in 2016 in partnership with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. The alumni of the UTHSC-Nashville General Surgery Residency Program have matched for competitive fellowship opportunities and are each continuing to work selflessly throughout the pandemic.

“The mission of the Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West General Surgery Residency Program is to produce affable, technically excellent general surgeons who can practice independently the discipline of general surgery as outlined and governed by the American Board of Surgery,” said Program Director Jeffery Dattilo, M.D. “We are incredibly proud of the diligence and commitment of our 2020 graduates, who are already proving an inspiration to our current residents,” said Program Coordinator Alyssa Miller.

Fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the 5-year program is the continuation of a rich tradition of surgical education at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West. Though residents have trained at the hospital since the 1940s, the UTHSC-Nashville General Surgery Residency Program marks the first formal residency program offered through Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West.

The Class of 2020 pictured above: P. Andy Rivera, M.D., (center) has relocated to New Orleans for a Vascular Surgery Fellowship with Ochsner Health System. Cesar Molina, M.D., (right) has begun a Hand & Microsurgery Fellowship at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute at the University of Louisville and Alexander Nixon, M.D., (left) is also at the University of Louisville as a Plastic Surgery Fellow.