Surgery Chattanooga
The UTHSC College of Medicine-Chattanooga is approved as a Sponsoring Institution for ACGME-accredited GME training programs and holds Continued Accreditation and Commendation without any citations (as of November 2021).
2026-27 Interviews
All interviews for the 2027 Match will be conducted virtually via ZOOM. The initial round of interview invitations will be sent in October of 2026, in keeping with APDS recommendations. We follow APDS recommendations to send the same number of initial invitations as we have interview slots.
Interview dates:
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- November 2026
- December 2026
Applicants will have 48 hours to accept/reply to an interview invitation. After 48 hours with no response, that interview slot will be offered to someone on the waitlist.
This dynamic Surgery Residency Program is sponsored by the largest department at the UT College of Medicine-Chattanooga. The program currently has Continued Accreditation with no citations and has received commendations for compliance with ACGME and Surgery RRC requirements.
About our Program
Training in our Surgery Residency is quite comprehensive, encompassing all areas of general surgery and related subspecialties. Erlanger Health System maintains a robust hospital census due to its Level I Trauma Center designation, the hospital's air medical transport service (LIFE FORCE), and its kidney transplant program. Erlanger is the tertiary care center for the Southeast Tennessee region.
Each year approximately 18,000 operative procedures are performed here. Surgery residents are involved in door-to-door care of approximately 90% of all patients admitted to the General Surgery, Thoracic, and Vascular services.
We currently match 6 categorical surgery residents per year.
The Department of Surgery also sponsors three fellowship programs:
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- Colon and Rectal Surgery
- Surgical Critical Care
- Vascular Surgery
Our rotations are primarily "under one roof," and there is daily exposure and involvement with the Department Chair, Residency Program Director, and other faculty. The majority of clinical training takes place within the main Erlanger campus, but we also provide a rotation in rural general surgery for each PGY-3 level resident in Athens, TN. Each location is less than one hour from Chattanooga, and residents have the opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty members practicing in rural settings within Tennessee.
Residents completing the program have a successful pass rate on the American Board of Surgery certification examination. Every graduate who has re-taken the Certifying Exam has successfully passed. Our graduates are prepared for any surgery career path with a breadth of experience enabling them to successfully enter surgical practice or compete for nationally recognized fellowships.
Surgery Leadership
Benjamin Dart, MD, FACS, was appointed Chair of the Department of Surgery in 2022. Dr. Dart is a 1999 graduate of Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He completed a General Surgery Residency in 2005 here in Chattanooga. He holds the distinction as being the first graduate of our Surgical Critical Care Fellowship here in 2003.
Dr. Dart is an active member of the American College of Surgeons; Southeastern Surgical Congress; Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma; Medical Society of Chattanooga, Southern Surgical Association; Tennessee Medical Association; Western Trauma Association; and Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society.
W. Heath Giles, MD, FACS has served as Surgery Residency Program Director since 2015. Dr. Giles is a 2005 graduate of UTHSC College of Medicine and 2011 graduate of the UTHSC College of Medicine-Chattanooga General Surgery program. He completed a fellowship in Endocrine Surgery at Brigham and Womens Hospital/Harvard Medical School in 2012.
Dr. Giles returned to Chattanooga as an Assistant Professor of Surgery in 2012. He was promoted to full Professor in 2024. Dr. Giles is an active member of the American College of Surgeons; American Medical Association; American Association of Endocrine Surgeons; Association of Program Directors in Surgery; Medical Society of Chattanooga/Hamilton County, Southern Surgical Association; Southeastern Surgical Congress; and Tennessee Medical Association.
Stephen Greer, MD, has been Surgery Clerkship Director for medical student education since 2024. Dr. Greer is a 2013 graduate of UTHSC College of Medicine and completed his General Surgery Residency here in Chattanooga in 2019. Dr. Greer joined the Department of Surgery faculty in 2020 as an Assistant Professor and assumed the role of Clerkship Director in 2024.
Dr. Greer maintains active membership with the American College of Surgeons; Southeastern Surgical Congress; and Tennessee Medical Association.
Robert A. Maxwell, MD, FACS, is Program Director of the Surgical Critical Care Fellowship. A graduate of Medical College of Virginia, Dr. Maxwell completed a General Surgery residency at Eastern Virginia School of Medicine followed by a Trauma Surgery/Critical Care fellowship at University of Tennessee in Memphis. Dr. Maxwell joined the UTHSC Surgery faculty in 1998 as an Instructor and now holds the rank of Professor.
Dr. Maxwell is an active member of American College of Surgeons; American Association of the Surgery of Trauma; Chattanooga/Hamilton County Medical Society; Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma; Southeastern Surgical Congress; and Western Trauma Association.
J. Daniel Stanley, MD, FACS, FASCRS, is Program Director of the Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship. Dr. Stanley is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine and completed surgery residency at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, IA. He completed a fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at William Beaumont Hospital in Texas. Dr. Stanley joined the UTHSC College of Medicine-Chattanooga Surgery faculty in 2010. He achieved the rank of Professor of Surgery in 2018.
Dr. Stanley is an active member of the American College of Surgeons; Southeastern Surgical Congress; Medical Society of Chattanooga/Hamilton County, Southern Surgical Association; Tennessee Medical Association; and the Throckmorten Surgical Society.
Benjamin Dart, MD, FACS
Professor and Chair,
Department of Surgery
W. Heath Giles, MD, FACS
Professor and Program Director,
General Surgery Residency
Stephen Greer, MD
Assistant Professor and Medical Student Clerkship Director
Dr. Robert Maxwell, MD, FACS
Professor and Program Director,
Surgical Critical Care Fellowship
J. Daniel Stanley, MD, FACS
Professor and Program Director,
Colon and Rectal Surgery Fellowship
