Holiday hours

With the exception of Inova hospitals, Inova Emergency Care and Inova-GoHealth Urgent Care, all Inova outpatient offices will be closed for the Labor Day holiday – Monday, September 1.

Welcome to the Inova General Surgery Residency Program!  

Established in 2003, we match seven categorical residents per year into a rigorous, supportive training environment blending academic and community-based surgery. As an independent academic medical center — often described as a "hybrid program" — we provide early, high-volume operative experience (averaging 1100+ major procedures on graduation) alongside robust academic resources, mentorship, and research opportunities.

Training primarily takes place at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, an almost 1000-bed hospital that is Northern Virginia’s only Level 1 trauma center and home to the third busiest Emergency Department in the United States. Inova Fairfax is consistently recognized for excellence in patient care and innovation; We are ranked the #1 hospital in Virginia and Washington, D.C. by U.S. News & World Report and named 2025 Health System of the Year by Press Ganey.

Explore and experience

Discover the Advanced Surgical Technology and Education Center (ASTEC) at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus — the region’s most advanced surgical simulation facility.

Take a virtual tour
 

Inova Residents in the operating room

Learning, Leading, Belonging
 Thriving together

Our residents thrive in a culture that prioritizes teaching, teamwork, and personal growth. We believe in 60/40 relationships—always seeking to give more to one another than we receive. We are committed to being excellent teachers, leaders, and collaborators for each other, medical students, and hospital staff. Whether your goals include academic surgery, fellowship training, or community practice, our program prepares you for a meaningful and rewarding career with strong case volumes, faculty support, and lasting community.

Operative experience & rotations: 

  • Graduates from our program log an average of >1100 major cases (minimum requirement of 850).
  • All our rotations occur within the Inova system, with PGY-1 and PGY-2 residents entirely on the main campus. This means minimal driving and adjusting to several hospitals and systems.
  • Our hospital supports fellowships in surgical critical care, vascular, breast, and bariatric surgery. These positions and any future programs are highly regulated to ensure optimal operative experience for our residents. No additional fellowships are being considered at this time.  
  • We have a strong team of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) and visiting surgery residents to help balance workload and enhance your learning.
  • We also offer opportunities for you to customize your learning experience through electives.
  • Elective rotations are offered from the 2nd-4th year. Options include off-site, international, rotations not usually covered by our team, and additional time on our main services. Past examples include:
  • In-house: Plastic surgery, renal transplant, cardiothoracic surgery, endoscopy with GI, abdominal wall reconstruction, anesthesia, orthopedics, additional time in our core rotations, etc.
  • International: We have newly established a 4-week rotation in general surgery in Panama City!

Sample schedule

Trauma: 2-3 months Emergency 
General Surgery (EGS): 1-2 months 
STICU: 1 month 
Vascular: 1 month Colorectal (CRS): 1 month 
Surgical Oncology/Hepatobiliary (Team 5): 1 month 
Elective General Surgery (Team 6): 1 month 
Endocrine/Breast (EBR): 1 month 
Nights: 1-2 months

EGS: 1-2 months 
STICU: 2 months 
Thoracic: 1 month 
Vascular: 1 month 
Colorectal: 1 month 
Surg Onc/HPB: 1 month 
Transplant (TXP): 1 month 
Gen Surg/Breast: 1 month 
Elective: 1 month 
Nights: 1-2 months

EGS: 1-2 months 
STICU: 1 month 
Colorectal: 1 month 
Surg Onc/HPB: 1 month 
Gen Surg: 1-2 month 
Pediatric Surg: 1 month 
Bariatric: 1 month 
General surgery at one of our community hospitals: 1-2 months 
Elective: 1 month 
Nights: 1-2 months

Trauma: 2 months 
Vascular: 2 months 
Endocrine: 1 month 
General surgery at one of our community hospitals: 2 months 
Float: 2 months 
Elective: 1 month 
Nights: 2 months

EGS: 2 months 
Thoracic: 2 months 
Colorectal: 2 months 
Surg Onc/HPB: 2 months 
General Surgery: 2 months 
Endocrine/Breast: 2 months

Applications & Interviews 

Holistic application review: We read every application. No minimum test score requirements beyond passing. 

Requirements: 

  • USMLE or COMLEX transcripts (1 & 2).
  • Medical school transcript.
  • MSPE (Dean’s Letter).
  • 3 letters of recommendation. No specific writer, such as a Chairman’s letter, is required.
  • International applicants:
    • ECFMG sponsors J1 visas and the institution sponsors H1.
    • We do accept both visas.
    • Passing USMLE scores.
    • 3+ months of U.S. clinical experience.

Information sessions: Virtual Information sessions will be held prior to application deadlines. Please follow us on social media for updates: Instagram (@inovasurgery) | X (@surgeryinova)

Interviews: 

  • All interviews will be virtual for the 2025–2026 application cycle.
  • Invitations released in late October per APDS recommendations.
  • Interview dates: Dates will occur on select Wednesdays and Saturdays during November – January.
  • Interview structure:
    • Night-before virtual social with residents.
    • Welcome from Program Director.
    • 3 x 20-minute interviews with faculty/senior residents.
    • 10-minute interview with Program Director.
    • Scheduled break time for conversations and questions with residents.
  • Second looks:
    • In-person second looks will be offered and are optional.
    • There will be 2 dates in February offered for those available and interested. 
Learn more

Curriculum & Research

Salary & benefits

Resident life

Program leadership

Current Residents

Graduates

Messages from our leaders

Paula Ferrada, MD, FACS, FCCM, MAMSE
Chair, Department of Surgery
Read message

 

 

Jonathan Dort, MD, FACS, MAMSE
Program Director
Read message

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Yes! Annual resident-led feedback sessions with program leadership result in tangible improvements to rotations, resources, and educational priorities. Additionally, residents meet with the program director weekly after scheduled conferences, and his door is always open.

Residents are evaluated through: 

  • EPAs using SIMPL
  • End-of-rotation faculty feedback
  • Semi-annual Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) reviews based on ACGME milestones
  • We utilize a night team system with 2-week blocks. Therefore, all call shifts only include weekend daytime coverage. Residents have on average 1-3 call shifts per month. Note: We do not have 24-hour call.
  • PGY-3 and 4 residents occasionally take home call when at other Inova hospitals.

Yes. While the area is costly, resident salaries and benefits support a comfortable lifestyle with room for saving and recreation.

Yes! We are a satellite campus for the UVA School of Medicine and have several external 4th-year AIs with us throughout the year. While not every service has medical students, our residents are dedicated to being strong teachers to our students and each other.

Start your learning journey

Contact our Residency Coordinator

Olivia Donalek 
Email: Olivia.Dohnalek@inova.org
Inova Fairfax Hospital Office of Surgical Education 
3300 Gallows Rd 
Falls Church, VA, 22042

Stay in the know!