Education of the rural surgeon: experience from Tennessee.

The rural surgery rotation that is contained within the general surgery residency program at The University of Tennessee College of Medicine-Chattanooga is described in this article. The advantages of this experience, including the extensive endoscopy experience and the close exposure to practicing general surgeons, are also outlined. The rotation receives uniformly positive evaluations from residents at completion, and it has become the primary gastrointestinal endoscopy educational experience in this program. The description serves as a model that can be used by other programs to construct a rural surgery rotation.