Both the General Surgery and Vascular Surgery Residency Programs at UPMC are proud to participate in the Surgical Scientist Training Program (SSTP) sponsored by the American College of Surgeons. Building on our more than 40-year tradition of training surgeon scientists, this pathway formalizes and accelerates what has long defined Pittsburgh surgery: rigorous clinical excellence paired with early, high-impact academic development. Through the NRMP Match, we will offer at least one designated SSTP position per year in both General and Vascular Surgery. The program provides up to six months of dedicated research time during PGY1–3 for early project development, structured grant preparation, and submission of NIH training awards (T32/F32/R38), followed by 2–3 years of guaranteed funding and protected academic time in focused tracks including basic/translational science, health services and outcomes research, education, bioinformatics and AI, global health, and access to care.
Our goal is accelerated excellence: creating an environment where residents achieve earlier scientific specialization, sustained scholarly productivity, and seamless transition to independent funding and faculty leadership. The SSTP pathway integrates structured mentorship, individualized career planning, advanced degree opportunities, and our FASTRACK model of sustained departmental support to bridge the critical transition back to clinical practice while maintaining research momentum. As one of the premier programs in the country for developing academic surgeons, UPMC offers an unmatched ecosystem for surgeon-scientist growth—combining NIH-funded laboratories, outcomes research infrastructure, educational scholarship, and emerging strengths in data science and AI—to prepare the next generation of national leaders in academic surgery.