Keck Medicine of USC Department of Surgery

04/29/2026

Preparing the next generation of physicians! 🩺

Our Annual KSOM Medical Student (MS4) Transition to Residency Workshop Series gives graduating medical students hands-on training before they begin intern year. Over two intensive weeks, students sharpen critical skills, from airway management and advanced suturing to chest tubes, arterial lines, and surgical consults, so they're ready from day one.

04/28/2026

🎙️ Drs. David Armstrong and Laura Shin recently joined IWJ Talk, the podcast series from the International Wound Journal, to discuss their article, "An Enigma Wrapped in Oedema: Rethinking Charcot Neuroarthropathy in Diabetes on JM Charcot's 200th Birthday."

🎧 Give it a listen: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-enigma-wrapped-in-oedema/id1793990299?i=1000763423655

Dr. Armstrong is a distinguished professor of Surgery and Neurological Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine and podiatric surgeon at Keck Medicine of USC. He is a well known for his work in diabetic foot care, wound healing, and limb preservation.

Dr. Laura Shin is a reconstructive surgeon and physician-scientist who specializes in podiatry, including foot and ankle deformities, Charcot neuroarthropathy, limb salvage, wound care and diabetic feet and ankles.

Podcast Episode · IWJ - TALK · April 24 · 24m

04/16/2026

We asked Dr. Sang Lee, the Chief of Colon and Re**al Surgery at Keck Medicine of USC, his advice on how to lower your risk of colon cancer, here’s what he said.

DO:
✅Get screened for colon cancer starting at age 45.
✅Know your family history, if a first-degree relative had colon cancer, get screened 10 years earlier than their diagnosis
✅Understand that most colon cancers start as polyps, removing them during a colonoscopy can actually prevent cancer
✅Prioritize screening, when caught early, colon cancer is highly curable
✅Eat a diet rich in fiber, fruits, and vegetables
✅Stay physically active, movement matters more than you think. Regular exercise is associated reduced colon cancer risk.
✅Limit alcohol consumption

DON’T:
❌Avoid screening because of prep, modern options are much more tolerable, and it could save your life
❌Assume you’re too young, rates are rising in adults under 50
❌Ignore a positive stool test, it always needs a follow-up colonoscopy
❌Overlook warning signs like blood in stool, new constipation, or narrowing stool
❌Wait for symptoms, early colon cancer is often silent
❌Overdo red/processed meats or refined sugar-heavy foods. High consumption is associated with increased colorectal cancer risk.
❌Smoke, this increases both risk and mortality

Prevention and early detection aren’t complicated, but they do require action.

04/15/2026

A decade of advancing endoscopic education!

Last week’s 10th Annual Colorectal Surgery Advanced Endoscopic & Endoluminal Surgery Course, led by Dr. Sang Lee, Chief of Colin and Re**al Surgery at Keck Medicine of USC, gave fellows from around the world hands-on experience with cutting-edge techniques like EMR, ESD, CELS, FLEX, stenting, and closure methods.

Advancing skills that translate directly to better patient care.

04/02/2026

Training the surgeons of tomorrow, today.

Meet the FLS Trainer Box with TV Camera, a standardized simulation tool designed to elevate the standard of laparoscopic surgery. From building manual dexterity to sharpening clinical judgment, this simulator gives surgeons a validated, hands-on environment to master the fundamentals before ever entering the OR.

Because better training means better outcomes, for every patient on the table.

03/31/2026

Giving back to the future of medicine! 🩺

Drs. Christian Ochoa and Elizabeth Miranda from our Department of Surgery volunteered at the USC–UPC Annual Latino Students in Medicine Pre-Health Conference, where they led workshops on basic knot tying and suturing for pre-med undergraduate students.

Check out some highlights from the day!

03/25/2026

Training the next generation of endoscopists. At the colonic stent station at a training program on advanced endoscopic and endo-luminal surgery, participants got hands-on experience deploying colonic stents through the colonoscope, a life-changing skill for managing malignant colonic obstruction in patients who can’t undergo colectomy. This hands-on training ensures our endoscopists are prepared for real-world, high-stakes scenarios!

02/13/2026

Throwback to our Advanced Endoscopic and Endo-luminal Surgery Course! This hands-on training program covered cutting-edge techniques including EMR, ESD, CELS, FLEX, endoscopic stents, and closure methods. The future of endoscopic surgery is bright!

02/11/2026

The Department of Surgery receives more than $1 million each year in extramural grants, which supports the department’s long tradition of involvement in both basic and clinical research. A number of research studies are conducted in collaboration with other departments of the Keck School of Medicine, including the Department of Medicine and its divisions of gastrointestinal and liver diseases, infectious diseases and oncology.

In addition, we are constantly working to improve patient care. Clinical research pushes forward new technologies, often originating at the Keck School. Basic science labs advance the art and science of surgery. And big data is deployed to improve clinical decision-making, benefiting patients across L.A. and worldwide.

Learn more about our department here: https://keck.usc.edu/surgery/.

01/28/2026

“Where I am now is ‘give-back’ time,” the Half Century Trojan says.

01/14/2026

Keck Medicine of USC offers patients comprehensive multidisciplinary care. Our surgical divisions all include specialists and subspecialists so that we can offer advanced tertiary and quaternary care, which means we routinely accept cases from medical centers across Southern California. Our residents and fellows are able to see high volumes of cases that many surgeons only see a few times in their careers.

01/07/2026

In the Department of Surgery, researchers and clinicians in every division do more than offer the most advanced specialty care. They also develop and perfect groundbreaking new therapies and devices. We give rising surgeons the rigorous training they need to develop exceptional surgical skills and offer compassionate care to their patients.