This core clerkship is designed to develop clinical competence, to foster appropriate attitudes toward professional responsibility as a physician, and to introduce students to the specialty of General Surgery. The surgical clerkship is a 10-week rotation offered at our affiliated teaching hospitals. Students devote 80% of their time evaluating surgical patients in the allocated hospitals at both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings, with the remaining 20% assigned for didactic teaching and seminars. By the end of the clerkship, students are expected  recognize and understand the common surgical conditions as well as the emergency surgical presentations, and to identify the recommended management plans. Preoperative optimization and postoperative course in surgical conditions will be emphasized. Faculty instructions and supervision are commenced on daily basis by bedside tutoring and case-based discussions. A clinical skill component runs on weekly basis in the Clinical Simulation Center to complement the bedside teaching.