Orthopaedic Residency Program - 5 Year Pathway
All training takes place at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center; there are no outside rotations. Positions are matched by the National Resident Matching Program, with three new house officers accepted each year. The first year is spent in general surgery as a categorical diversified internship after which progress is made to the first year in orthopaedic surgery. The program is accredited by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the American Medical Association's Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. At the completion of the program, each resident is eligible to sit for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery certification exams.
Through experience in surgery as well as in outpatient clinics, the house officer receives instruction in all aspects of adult and pediatric orthopaedic surgery. Diagnostic and operative arthroscopy, microsurgery, hand surgery, trauma, adult reconstruction, spine, foot and ankle, and rehabilitative medicine are emphasized. An active sports medicine program coordinates the care of our university athletes as well as those at the high school level.
The program offers a unique educational experience in the area of clinical patient care. Each of the residents (beginning at the third post-graduate level) are responsible for and maintain their own clinics. While the clinics are supervised by the faculty, the primary responsibility for them lies with the resident. These clinics, for which full ancillary support is provided, allow the resident the opportunity to follow patients from the time of initial diagnosis through the course of treatment (including operative, and post-operative care) for the duration of the residency training period.
A series of rotations are structured to provide training in adult and pediatric orthopaedics, fractures, rehabilitation, and basic sciences. The sequence of rotation is designed to provide increasing individual responsibility in the complexity of case management as experience is gained.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery offers a well structured conference schedule which consists of didactic lectures given by the faculty. Orthopaedic Grand Rounds is more Socratic in nature with a case presentation format. Conferences address the areas of sub-specialty including, oncology, trauma, hand, spine, foot and ankle, adult reconstruction, and sports medicine. Additionally, an annual trauma/motor-skills workshop and a musculoskeletal pathology workshop is sponsored by the Department in conjunction with the other medical centers in the region.
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery has its own research laboratory which is funded by local, regional, and national grants, as well as by the Department. The laboratory employs two full-time laboratory technicians and a secretary under the supervision of the Director, who holds a Ph.D. in physiology. Clinical and basic science research projects are ongoing and represent all areas and subspecialties of orthopaedics.
Clinical and basic science research is strongly encouraged throughout the course of orthopaedic residency. Residents with a strong interest in research will find the faculty to be very receptive and supportive of their projects, including the allocation of funding if no outside source is available. Sponsorship is available for residents to attend (up to) two national meetings (per year) at which their research papers have been accepted for presentation. If a resident is invited to present on more than two occasions, sponsorship will be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The Department requires all residents to complete one research project during the course of residency. Although it is not a requirement that the ensuing paper be accepted for publication, it is required that the paper be prepared in a publishable format. The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery sponsors an annual Resident Research Day. During this event the chief residents present their completed papers, the remaining residents present status reports on their projects which are in progress, and there is a presentation by a nationally known guest speaker.
The department performs approximately 5,700 operative procedures per year; outpatient visits, including adults and children total approximately 59,900 per year; and orthopaedic emergency room visits are approximately 8,834 per year.
Program Coordinator: | Kathleen Hermance
hermance@wfubmc.edu
(336) 716-3946 phone
(336) 716-3861 fax |
Program Address: | Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Medical Center Boulevard, Box 1070
Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1070 |