Overview

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery shares the same 3-fold mission as the Wake Forest University School of Medicine: 

1. Clinical care
2. Education
3. Research

Residents actively participate in ongoing research within the department, or they pursue independent research projects.  Because research represents one third of the mission of the department, it receives a high priority and is an important component of the residency program.

Dedicated research rotations

PGY-1: 1 month

PGY 3: two, 2-month rotations

Mission: The purpose of the resident research rotations is to provide a structured introduction to core competencies in research, standard laboratory procedures and clinical research practices. The research component includes an overview of and experience in anatomy, ancillary clinical services, clinical laboratories, clinical outcomes studies, biomechanics, tissue engineering, physiology, basic science techniques, and animal models research. At the completion of the residency program, all residents have conducted a focused basic science or clinical research project and have completed a manuscript describing their research project.

Riyaz Jinnah , MD, FRCS is the Director of Research within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  The department also has a Research Advisory Panel that works with Dr. Jinnah.  Members of this panel include  Walton W. Curl, MD, Cristin Ferguson, MD, Zhongyu Li, MD, PhD, Jeffrey Shilt, MD, Beth Paterson Smith, PhD, and Thomas Smith, PhD.  This organizational structure provides the platform to promote and facilitate research within the department.

Yearly goals and requirements overview

Provided is an overview of specific dates and requirements relating to resident research during the five years of the orthopaedic residency program. All research proposals and manuscripts prepared by residents are submitted according to the guidelines to Cristin M. Ferguson MD, (administrative secretary:  Kathy Riggs).

Residents who do not complete the yearly research requirements will have an academic report of deficiency forwarded to Ethan Wiesler, MD, Residency Program Director.