Every year, general surgery residents participate in the Top Gun competition, a friendly battle to see who has the fastest laparoscopic skills. Participants are timed on several tasks, such as suturing, transferring pegs, and tying shoelaces, and the residents with the highest scores go on to compete in the final round. The winner of the final round then represents the program at the national Top Gun competition at the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) annual meeting. Washington University has had several national winners throughout the years, which is a testament to the program’s thorough laparoscopic curriculum and training.
“The Top Gun competition has been a part of the residency training program for several years now. I think it’s something that the residents look forward to. They get very competitive by nature and so they really enjoy going through this,” says Michael Brunt, MD, Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery and former president of SAGES.
Top Gun 2023
Top Gun 2022
The winner of the Final Round represents the program at the national Top Gun competition at the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) annual meeting. Resident Corbin Frye, MD, won this national laparoscopic competition in 2021.