The program is integrated with Cook County Hospital and affiliated with Rush North Shore Medical Center in Skokie, Illinois. The attending surgeons are not only skilled clinicians, but also expert teachers. Cook County Hospital has long had a reputation for teaching, in addition to being one of the busiest city hospitals in the country. The first trauma service in the country, which has served as a prototype for all the rest, was started at Cook County Hospital. The clinical and scientific scholarship of its staff is widely recognized. Clinical and basic research are carried out at Rush University Medical Center and the Hektoen Institute of Cook County Hospital. Areas of active investigation include tumor and transplant molecular biology and immunobiology, the role of adhesion molecules in metastases, tumor angiogenesis, cryoablation and laser therapy for primary and metastatic disease, pathogenesis of thyroid cancer and the role of translocation in the development of secondary pancreatic infections.