General surgery is often known as the core discipline.

From cancer to obesity and many difficult and painful conditions in between, the general surgeon must treat a devastating litany of diseases that threaten people’s lives and health.
 
To that end, our Division of General Surgery houses four overlapping specialty areas:

• colorectal surgery
  
  
• minimally invasive surgery and bariatric surgery
  
  
• surgical oncology
  
  
• trauma and critical care surgery

The Division of General Surgery is also the training ground for prospective surgeons at Stanford.