Microsurgery Course (Jianjun Ma, MD, PhD)
A structured course in microsurgical techniques is offered to hand fellows and orthopaedic surgery residents. This course lasts for 4-6 weeks and provides a step-by-step approach to teach the use of operating microscopes, microsurgical instruments, and microsuture knot tying. Top-quality operating microscopes and microsurgical instruments are used for this course to replicate the instrumentation and equipment used in the operating room. Specific techniques for microvessel (artery and vein) anastomoses, and nerve repairs are demonstrated. Students learn these challenging techniques by performing repairs of small (1 mm and smaller) arteries, veins, and nerves of rats and mice. Students also learn how to assist microsurgeons and work as a team utilizing dual observer operating microscopes to perform vessel and nerve repairs.
Southeastern Fracture Symposium (http://www.sefs.org)
This course is hosted by the trauma team each year during January and was developed to provide updates on the latest orthopaedic trauma initiatives to orthopaedists, researchers, research associates, fellows, residents, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and operating room technicians. The objectives of the course are to: discuss current and preliminary research studies related to fracture management and trauma care and to identify the recognized best treatments for various types of musculoskeletal trauma. A nurse's symposium is held concurrently with the other courses to educate nurses who work in a clinical orthopaedic setting regarding the most up-to-date trauma treatments.