Osteopathic Orthopedic Surgery Residency Reviews

[Wozo30]

It rotation season again. Please feel free to post reviews about programs you've seen. Again message me and I can post your review anonymously

Program:

General:

Attendings:

Residents:

Didactics:

Operative Experience:

Clinic Experience:

Research:

Lifestyle:

Pros:

Cons:

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[itrules]

Has anyone rotated through Wellmont or Jack Hughston?

 

[inandoutberger]

Is anyone willing to speak to the regional biases of these programs?

Thanks for any input available

 

[NMDO]

Has anyone rotated through Wellmont or Jack Hughston?

I rotated through Jack Hughston last year. Solid program. Still some kinks to work out when I was there but the name and resources are amazing for a DO program. Attendings that I worked with seemed to really enjoy teaching. I'm sure it will continue to get better as they get more residents.

 

[wildwestjoe]

Anyone care to comment on how Corvallis stacks up against some of these other programs?

I would also be interested to hear other takes on OKC, Dayton, Las vegas, or whatever else as many of the early posts are getting dated.

I guess My ideal program would not have a ton of residents fighting over cases and would offer lots of OP experience in terms of both quality and quantity, my family would also like to be in a place that feels safe and unfortunately many good programs dont fit that bill. Board heavy programs may be a good option for me as I managed a >800 comlex 1. I'm starting to get very nervous about going for ortho though as I feel I do not interview or shine well.

 

[DocMartin89]

I don't know how you feel about pulling info from the other well known ortho site but they have a good amount of residency reviews there. I don't see an issue with it though.

I PMed you

 

[MJS4878]

I PMed you

PM me too please!


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[dubbya16]

I PMed you

I could use some more info as well thanks.

 

[why_do_trees_grow_up]

I PMed you

PM me also please!

 

[whitinga]

I PMed you

PM me too please! Thanks!

 

[Goodfella21]

Anonymous

Program: St. John Oakland

General: Base hospital in Madison Heights, which is real close to Royal Oak (bars/restaurants). Take 2 residents a year. Board scores highly emphasized. Interviewed 575+ but really want 600+ preferably higher. Invite non rotators because they don't get enough rotators. If they like you at the interview, then they'll call you up to come for a few days before they make an offer to you. Real laid back, no malignant personalities.

Attendings: Three attendings at the base hospital. Najarian, Kelly, and Hill. Najarian is the director, old school, but a very nice guy. Pimps a little, care a lot about boards and how you get along with his residents. Treats his residents like his sons (and a daughter). The other two are not as involved but residents scrub with them. Both are nice guys.

Residents: Really laid back guys but really smart. Education is a priority here so they are well read. Take 2 residents a year. These guys get along well and are really down to earth, no malignant personalities.

Didactics: Strong. OITE reviews, Journal club. Fracture Conf.

Operative Experience: Weak at the base hospital as there not a lot of cases to go around. However, their out rotations are solid, go to Sinai Grace/DMC. Tyler, TX for Trauma. Go to other big hospitals in St. John system. While at the base hospital, lots of autonomy as Naj lets the senior run their own rooms, who in turn teach juniors.

Clinic Experience: Pretty good, as a PGY2, you go to Naj's office 2-3 times a week. Mostly general ortho stuff.

Research: They didn't talk about this much while I was there so not sure.

Lifestyle: Very chill, start around 630 most days at the base hospital. Not sure about other hospitals they visit for outrotations

Pros: Smart guys, family like atmosphere here, very laid back, no malignant personalities, education is the top priority, you don't get treated like a glorified PA here, they really get you involved early on in the OR as a junior resident

Cons: Case load at the base hospital is low, but don't be deterred, Chiefs had great operating skills as they have some good outrotations that provides solid number of cases.

St. John Providence Orthopedic Surgery website: www.stjohnortho.com

 

[Goodfella21]

Program: St. John Providence www.stjohnortho.com

General: This is a tight knit program. I felt that the residents got along very well and there was good camaraderie. The program rotates through the various St. John Hospitals in Detroit, as well as others. As a student you go to Oakland, St. John Main, Providence Southfield, and Providence Park. I got to meet more of the residents and attendings this way. The 5th year residents were, operatively, some of the best I saw out of the 5 different programs I auditioned at. I think this is because they are already doing skin to skin procedures as interns, who I saw do IM nails and distal radius.

Attendings: St. John Oakland you have Dr. Najarian, the PD, very outgoing and fun to be around. And like the previous review stated, he does treat the residents like sons and daughters. He does a lot of general ortho but is also fellowship trained in hand, so I did get to scrub in on some hand cases. Dr. Kelly is also a general orthopedist, I scrubbed knees, scopes, ACLs, and trauma with him. At St. John Main, I scrubbed with Dr. Afsari who is fellowship trained in trauma. He has a very strong reputation as a talented ortho trauma surgeon. Dr. Best is also at Main, I didn't have the chance to scrub with him. He is also a trauma guy. At Southfield I scrubbed with Dr. Knesek. He is a recon guy and I was blown away watching him do a primary knee. He also does complicated revision cases.

Residents: Again, a tight group that goes out for drinks and has a good time together. Really smart crowd, I heard they do well on OITE and even had a national highest score a few years ago. They get in on cases pretty early and I think thats why they were so good with their hands as 4s and 5s.

Didactics: They do Friday morning journal clubs for those on service at Oakland. As students we were expected to present an article as well. It can get pretty lively with some good debate. After that, they do X-ray conference and have students read as well. That's followed up with OITE questions. Other mornings, residents presents specific topics and they go over more OITE questions until its time for cases or clinic. Overall, mostly resident run.

Operative Experience: One of the strongest suits. While St. John Oakland may not be as high volume as the other hospitals, they get to operate early. The senior will get to run the room with the attending often not scrubbing in. Interns get to do a decent amount and the second years even more. Again, on my auditions, this was the program with the best hands. I also went to Doctors, PCOM, Blues Springs (KC), and Largo, Fl.

Clinic Experience: For students, you get to go to Dr. Najarian's clinic. He sees patients and second year residents see patients. While on trauma at Main, 2nd, 4th, and 5th years go to the attendings clinic and have a decent amount of autonomy. Dr. Kelly has interns and second year residents with him and there is good autonomy. Lots of bread and butter.

Research: This has been lacking in the past but with acme accreditation every program has to have publications. St. John Main provides a strong case load for research, and there are other attendings involved with research that can provide other opportunities too.

Lifestyle: Great lifestyle. No mandatory out of state rotations. Call is not terrible. Residents aren't burnt out. Some have kids. Many residents live in the Royal Oak/Berkley area which has lots of great restaurants and great microbrew as well. Surprisingly, there's also a great live music scene in Detroit.

Pros:
Early operative experience.
Great hospital system, good case loads at most hospitals.
Trauma and joints.
Residents do well on OITE and Boards - strong education.
Pretty good lifestyle with lots to do in the city.
Weather - hard to beat the spring and fall.


Cons:
Research- not much going on in the past, but now on the up and up.
St. John Oakland is not a busy hospital.
Weather - Winter is a bit rough...

 

[Barbells&Bones]

Program: Wellmont Health System https://www.wellmont.org/Careers/Orthopedic-Residency-Program/Program-Details.aspx

General: Level 1 Trauma Center in the Kingsport-Bristol City- Johnson City, TN area that serves southern KY, VA, and NE Tennessee. ETSU does thier general surgery residency here and there is also an osteopathic family medicien residency.

Attendings: about 20 attendings. All are MD's except the PD. PGY4 University of Mississippi Medical Center Orthopedic Residents come up here to train for a few months as an away during their residency program. All the attendings are very approachable and like to teach.
There are attendings who did fellowships in every orthopedic specialty possible except orthopedic oncology and pediatrics.

Residents: Great group. They seem to have each other's back and help one another when they can. During fracture conferences they do a good job of making you think through cases, they may give you a little bit of a hard time but it is in a learning way and there is no belittling. They are very knowledgable and have good surgical skills as a PGY3.

Didactics: Fracture conference every morning at 6-7, then didatics 7-8. 3 days are led by attendings, 2 days are resident led.

Operative Experience: Each year the OR time increases. You are doing a lot of minor cases at the ASC starting PGY1. By the end of the PGY2 year you are doing 50-60% of a total joint with supervision. You finish with well over 2,000 cases at the end of residency.

Clinic Experience: Excellent. Atleast 2 clinic days a week in either hand, sports, spine, trauma follow up, or general, depending on the attending you are with.

Research: 1 research presentation required as per ACGME.

Lifestyle: Busy, just as any orthopedic residency should be. As a level 1 trauma center, you will get trauma. Some days are lighter than other. There is a night float resident at all times who takes overnight call (6PM-8AM). As a student you do 1 week of night float. Some night we where in the OR until 4 AM. Other nights we had 1-2 ED consults but no surgeries...so we read or slept

Rotations: Everything is done in house except pediatrics which is done at The University of Cincinnati x 6 months which is in the top 10 pediatric orthopedic hospitals in the country and all the residents say is a great/busy experience.

Pros: Great learning enviornment, ample case volume that prepares you well. This year the 3 senior residents matched into thier desired fellowships: Duke (Spine), University of Missouri (trauma), Campbell Clinic (pediatrics-Memphis,TN). Minimal travel. Cheap place to live (2 bedroom condo 700$/month with utilities). They are very up to date with ACGME accredidation. Attendings are great and the OR staff is pleasant. The ortho conference room is very nice with 3 call rooms, a kitchen, and a simulation lab for arthroscopic procedures. There is a cadaver lab done every year with the residents that covers all areas of ortho over the course of the year. $15/day meal stipend for food.

Cons: No major airport within 3 hours, Kingsport is a little small but Johnson City is larger where ETSU is (30 mins away)

 

[HgbTrotter]

I'll start out by saying that there is not a "best" program out there. There are a few programs that are commonly referred to as the best, but when you actually get out there and rotate you will see that the best program for one guy is not the best for another guy. Each one has something different to offer. I say this because I was set on going to a program with the best reputation that I could. However, I realized after rotating that all of the reviews on here are extremely biased or just the best for that person. So other factors like location should really be up there when considering where you want to audition. Also, 4 weeks seems like a lot of time to feel out a program but it really isn't enough time. PM me if you have any questions about certain programs. I rotated at Largo, McLaren Lansing, Henry Ford Macomb, Chicago, Pinnacle. Interviewed at all of the places I rotated + York, UH Regional, and Botsford. I have good things to say about all of the places I went, but could maybe give some more insight on specific questions/concerns.

Program: Henry Ford Macomb

General: Community program that takes 2 residents a year. They have a lot of volume. They do their Peds rotation in Cinci during 3rd year like a lot of DO programs. Trauma at Grady Hospital in Atlanta (one of the busiest trauma hospitals in the country) during 4th year. They foster an environment based on teaching, both for residents and students. The PD, Dr. Scott, is very passionate about his resident's education. I learned more on this rotation than any other and had a blast while I was there! They are also pretty much set for the ACGME merger, with HF main backing them they shouldn't have any issues and they are very dedicated to fixing whatever needs to be to make the merger.

Attendings: They work with 25+ different Attendings. Most of which are fellowship trained, but there are a few community guys too (who are very good). All of the attendings I worked with on my rotation pretty much let the residents do everything. Pretty chill and teach a lot. They all cared a lot about the program and the resident's development.

Residents: Very laid back group. They hold each other accountable, but there is no malignancy at all. The lack of malignancy I think is partly due to each resident pulling their own weight and helping each other out constantly. Senior residents are very approachable and teach a lot. The junior residents were very cool and teach the students a lot. Everyone is very approachable. They treat you very nice as a student which was refreshing. There is a good mix of single and married (some with kids). They are a close knit group that hangs out outside of work.

Didactics: Decent didactics. MWF for 2 hrs. They have resident run lectures and do practice questions, nothing crazy. The PD and another Attending usually come to their fracture conference and add their input. They also do some scope labs that I heard are pretty helpful. The residents do a lot of reading on their own that isn't as structured as other programs. Which is good for someone who is self motivated to study orthopedics.

Operative Experience: Second to none, this is the best aspect of the program. The Residents here were more skilled and comfortable in the OR than any other program I went to. They do an extremely large volume of bread and butter cases at their hospital. The residents are able to do as much as they are prepared for. I heard a rumor from another student that one of their residents did a Laterjet skin to skin as a 2nd year. They can all do total joints and fractures smoothly. A lot of sports cases too. They also spoke very highly of their trauma rotation in Atlanta...they are allowed to just run one of the trauma ORs all day and the attendings step in as needed. They graduate with over 2000 cases, most of which they are doing the majority of the case.

Clinic Experience: I only spent a couple days in clinic with the PD and one of the community guys so I can't speak too much about it. But I had a good experience in that limited time. There is no resident run clinic (which I actually think is a good thing).

Research: Not talked about much. But I know that they have plenty of opportunity for research through HF main. And this will be a bigger part of the program with the merger.

Lifestyle: 2nd year is a beast. They work very very hard here, which shows in both their knowledge and skill. After 2nd year it seems to be a pretty good lifestyle with time for family. Not too far from Royal Oak which is a nice young place with things to do. Also, Detroit isn't too far.

Pros: Operative experience. Residents. Attendings. If you want a program that will prepare you to be ready to go when you graduate this program does an excellent job.

Cons: It is smaller which can be considered a pro or a con depending on who you talk to.

 

[orthopedics7171]

Program: Jack Hughston in Phenix City, AL and Columbus, GA

http://www.hughston.com/graduate-medical-education/

General: Dr. Jack Hughston is considered to be the father of sports medicine and started the Hughston clinic and foundation. This is a world-renowned facility with premier orthopedic surgeons and medical professionals. This is where Dr. Andrews did his sports fellowship. The residency program is it’s newest addition and is now two years old with 3 PGY-1’s, 3 PGY-2’s, 3 PGY-3’s and 1 PGY-4. Looks to continue taking 3/year for the time being. The main hospital is located in Phenix City, AL (Jack Hughston Memorial) but you also work at Midtown Medical Center and The Hughston Clinic in Columbus, GA. Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital and the Hughston Clinic are orthopedic machines and are extremely efficient. The clinic has onsite PT/Rehab, Imaging and the surgery center is located on the second floor. In order to rotate need a COMLEX of 550 or greater currently.

Attendings: Dr. Harris (trauma) is the GME and head of orthopedic trauma. Dr. Harris is heavily involved in the program and has a vast amount of experience with starting and running residency program’s on the DO and MD side. Dr. MacDonald (hand/elbow) is the PD. Some other attending’s you will work with include: Dr. Pace (Assistant PD), Dr. Flandry, Dr. Floyd, Dr. Brummel, Dr. Geringer, Dr. Rehak, Dr. Ruark, Dr. Burkus, Dr. Baker Jr., Dr. Baker III, Dr. Fernicola, Dr. Tucker, Dr. Donati, Dr. Watson, Dr. Dorchak, Dr. McGrory, Dr. Pahl, Dr. Gudger, Dr. Waldrop and Dr. Antekeier (Peds Ortho). All the attendings are very gifted surgeons and the ones I worked with were enthusiastic about teaching and letting residents do cases if they were ready.

Residents: Great group of guys. They have each other’s back and are always helping each other out if needed. Mix of married (with and without kids) and single guys. They all hang out together outside of work and are very much a tight knit group. All of the residents were very intelligent and at the level of their respective peers if not exceeded them compared to other programs I rotated at.

Didactics: Morning conference/Fracture conference every morning at Midtown Medical Center for an hour at 6/6:30AM where they discuss consults, admissions and cases from the day prior. As a student you will have the opportunity to present patients when you are on call. Usually Dr. Harris, Dr. Floyd and Dr. Antekeier are at the morning conferences and are a wealth of knowledge. Have formal didactics that are attending and resident run in the afternoons throughout the week at the Foundation. Will also have anatomical dissections, surgical approaches, saw bones and surgical fixation workshops each month at the Hughston Foundation as well. Each month there is a Grand Rounds where a speaker comes to talk with all of the residents, attendings and fellows at the Foundation about a particular topic. Dinner is provided and the lectures are usually very good. Journal club is held each month at a restaurant or one of the attendings houses.

Operative Experience: Very much attending and resident experience dependent. Some cases PGY-1’s were essentially doing skin to skin. PGY-2’s were routinely doing a majority of TKA’s and other surgeries. Knee scopes are essentially second nature by the end of PGY-2 year. You will get a lot of sports experience here. Trauma is a great rotation at Midtown. There is a Trauma Fellow but the way it is set up now is you rotate through trauma as a 2nd and 4th year. The two main trauma guys are Harris and Floyd and you will work with them and the fellow during your rotation. Will see a ton of trauma (complex pelvis and acetabulum, pilon’s, tibal fractures, femoral fractures, lis franc’s, humerus, etc.). Will see complex cases as well. Saw a couple Multi-lig knees and complex revisions when I rotated. Dr. Antekeier is a peds ortho who operates at Midtown and you will get to operate with him. He will let residents do a lot on cases and depending on the case skin-to-skin. He will also do scoli cases here. He recently took on another peds ortho in his office who seems to want to teach and is enthusiastic about having residents as well. From talking to residents they are getting >500+ cases/year starting PGY-2. As a PGY-1 you will get close to that number as well.

Clinic Experience: You get great clinic experience here. From what I saw (depending on the attending) as a resident you will see patients, work them up and present the plan to your attending. Some attending’s give you more autonomy than others. There is also a resident run trauma clinic one afternoon a week. The residents see all the patients, write all notes, apply splints, casts, etc. during this clinic. There is always an attending/fellow there now for anything that comes up. My guess is once the program has a full set of PGY-5 residents they will essentially oversee the clinic and the younger guys will run it.

Research: There are ample opportunities to be a part of research and/or start your own projects here. All of the residents are required to be involved in some form of research each year. Most of the attendings have ongoing projects or are willing to help with research projects you may be interested in. Through the foundation they have someone who will help with research proposals, obtaining grants and proofreading abstracts/papers. They have a full time medical illustrator that will help with illustrations for posters, papers, etc. There is a dedicated anatomy lab and skills lab where cadaveric studies can be done as well.

Lifestyle: Smaller town. Cost of living is cheaper compared to other areas. If you want to enjoy a bigger city, Atlanta is about 1-1.5 hours away for weekend visits. Plenty of outdoor activities (hiking, tubing, biking, camping, etc.). Primary call is currently taken by 1st and 2nd years. One 2nd year is always on nights (M, T, Th, F) and a 2nd or 1st year is on primary call the weekends. Currently 3rd and 4th years take back up call and they do it by the week. The 3rd/4th year on call each week takes one day of primary call on Wednesday when the PGY-2 is not on nights. This may change (once there are full set of 1-5’s) but I am not sure. During the weekday there are PA’s that take trauma call at Midtown and so you will only take day call at Jack Hughston.

Rotations: Most rotations are done at the two base hospitals (Jack Hughston and Midtown Medical Center) and the Hughston Clinic. Midtown Medical Center is where you will do your Trauma rotation. All other rotations (sports, joints, spine, etc.) are based out of Jack Hughston Memorial. As a 3rd year you will do a peds rotation at Egelston in Atlanta, GA (1.5 hours away) for 4 months. They provide housing for this rotation. I’ve heard it’s a great rotation where you get a lot of bread and butter pediatric ortho, operate a lot and are very comfortable with peds ortho following the rotation.

Pros:

-Great group of residents and attendings
-Lots of OR experience
-Ability to do research
-Will be comfortable with bread and butter ortho after going through this program and essentially will have done a sports fellowship
-Will have no problem with ACGME merger
-**Work with sports teams. As a PGY-1 you are assigned a sports team that you will follow during your residency. Currently it is one of the local football teams and you (and possibly one other resident) are the only physician on the sideline for these teams.

Cons:
-Newer program
-Some unknowns in regards to fellowship placement, etc.

Overall: Hard to appreciate how great of a program this is without doing a rotation. This is an up and coming premier residency program. All of the residents were very intelligent and at the level of their respective peers if not exceeded them compared to other programs I rotated at. The attending’s are also all great and they are continuing to bring in new, fresh orthopedic surgeons into the program


**If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

 

[macbook1208]

PGY 1 on the at a newish DO program. My program recently went through the process of ACGME accreditation. We had all of our ducks in a row for the site visit, so I thought, thought for sure we would be given approval. We get plenty of volume, probably lack a bit of scholarly activity as many DO programs do. We did not get accreditation. However, it looks like almost every DO program that applied did not receive accreditation this time around. Seems crazy that nearly every program didn't get accreditation.

Any one out there with a similar experience have any inclination as to why? I know the acgme is waiting like 2 months to send out a reason as to why it wasn't approved, but wondering if anyone else has heard anything.

 

[SlugMD]

PGY 1 on the at a newish DO program. My program recently went through the process of ACGME accreditation. We had all of our ducks in a row for the site visit, so I thought, thought for sure we would be given approval. We get plenty of volume, probably lack a bit of scholarly activity as many DO programs do. We did not get accreditation. However, it looks like almost every DO program that applied did not receive accreditation this time around. Seems crazy that nearly every program didn't get accreditation.

Any one out there with a similar experience have any inclination as to why? I know the acgme is waiting like 2 months to send out a reason as to why it wasn't approved, but wondering if anyone else has heard anything.

My PGY-2 friend said that it is mostly because of the lack of research output, not operating volume. You can't change the culture over night and expect high research activity right away. It will take time.

Only McLaren- Greater Lansing has received approval so far. They are classified as "Initial accreditation contingent" which is right before official approval is granted.

 

[DarkHorizon]

My PGY-2 friend said that it is mostly because of the lack of research output, not operating volume. You can't change the culture over night and expect high research activity right away. It will take time.

Only McLaren- Greater Lansing has received approval so far. They are classified as "Initial accreditation contingent" which is right before official approval is granted.

That's not true. Plainview, Broward, Grand Rapids, and Cuyahoga Falls all have initial accreditation. Lansing is awaiting initial accreditation pending institution sponsorship..... whatever that means.

 

[orthogonalgrad]

Hello everyone, this forum was a huge help to me last year and it seems like it has died a little. Now that I've match (somehow), I can start filling out some evaluations for the programs I attended.

LAS VEGAS - VALLEY HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER

Program: Valley hospital in Las Vegas, NV. This was my last audition, I managed to get it scheduled pretty late by checking with the coordinator frequently for openings. Several students were on rotation with me, but far less than some places.

General: Newer program located in Las Vegas, should be graduating their first residents this year. I was primarily interested in California programs but I was surprised with how much I liked Las Vegas. Lots to do and some pretty nice areas not too far from the center of town. Resident's base hospital is Valley, however they spend most of their time in surrounding hospitals and larger orthopedic private practice groups in the area.




Attendings: Dr. Yee is the Director, he is a sports guy and definitely fit the stereotype. He gives off a pretty big "meat head" vibe at first, and goes out of his way to ignore students and their presence. On rotation you actually spend quite a bit of time with him. After a while I did become pretty impressed with his practice and style. Patients seem to love him and he gets the job done fast. He is invested in the success of the residency and I do believe he will do what it takes to keep it running, provided he doesn't have to work too hard.


Dr Bascharon: I didn't get to work with her so can't comment, but residents said good things.


Dr. Chan Covers foot and ankle with the residents. Super smart and very pleasant, goes out of his way to teach both students and residents. Works insanely hard but makes it look easy. Also covers lots of trauma.


Dr. McGee is sports guy, I got to spend one day with him while my assigned doctor was out of town. He is a younger doctor and insanely smart. Runs his practice very different from most of the other guys associated with the program, he is much more professional in appearance. Also a great teacher.

Dr. Lee: By far the most malignant attending I saw anywhere, and I went through some rough programs. How this guy is even still allowed inside of a hospital is beyond belief. Sure lots of ortho docs are crude and swear a lot, but this guy will go out of his way to verbally assault everyone in the room, I even saw him push one of the residents twice. I am not sure what role he plays in the program, but he will tell you he is calling most of the shots. This program needs to dump this guy, like yesterday. My rotation ended right before my interview so I did stick around for that but I couldn't bring myself to put this program on my rank list just because of this guy, I felt better off going unmatched.

Dr. Liu: This guy operates like a machine, Good teacher for the residents and let them do as much as they were comfortable with.

Dr. Fadell: Kind of a quirky guy but fun to be around. Does some ridiculously complicated joints and knows his stuff well.

Pediatrics is done in California, if I remember correctly. Trauma is in town at UMC, I didn't rotate at all there, I don't think any of the other students did either, so I can't really comment. The residents did seem to be happy with their training in those locations.


Residents: Smaller group of residents. Chiefs do a good job of teaching the juniors in didactics and fracture rounds. Most seemed to get along well, but apart from academic meetings I didn't get the feeling they interact much with each other. Most of them were hard working, a couple were not.


Didactics: Like I said, mostly chiefs teaching juniors, with resident lead presentations. Cadaver lab is available at Touro.


Operative Experience: Residents told me they operate a lot, but compared to every where else I went their volume was low and they were pretty limited in what most attendings allowed them to do. The PGY1-3's struggled on even the easy stuff, simple knee scopes just looked awkward. Chiefs did run their rooms well though, so I guess it all works out in the end. Almost always just one resident scrubbed with the attending and maybe a medical student or two. Only on a couple of complex cases did I see them double scrub.



Clinic Experience: For the most part very busy clinics. Mostly in large groups that are high volume. Residents seemed to be confident in their clinical decision making and exam skills. Probably one of the most impressive aspects of the program.


Research: A couple of discussions about ramping this up due to ACGME merger, but mostly sounded like small time stuff just to meet requirements.


Lifestyle: One of the better places for lifestyle. several residents are married with children and seemed to be balancing everything well. Great location for pretty much anything. Residents really didn't seem very busy.


Pros: Busy clinics, a couple of great teaching attendings, didactics schedule was nice, Plenty do do in las vegas area.


Cons: These guys drive everywhere as the practices are very spread out, some strange attendings, prepare to be verbally and maybe physically assaulted, O.R. skills very weak early on.

 

[MJS4878]

@orthogonalgrad Congrats on matching! Thanks for taking the time to write out your experience, I would love to hear about your time at other programs too if you have a chance.

 

[orthogonalgrad]

@orthogonalgrad Congrats on matching! Thanks for taking the time to write out your experience, I would love to hear about your time at other programs too if you have a chance.

I have few more to share. They are less recent and I have to look through some of my notes but I am working on them.

 

[MSII UPike]

I rotated through Jack Hughston last year. Solid program. Still some kinks to work out when I was there but the name and resources are amazing for a DO program. Attendings that I worked with seemed to really enjoy teaching. I'm sure it will continue to get better as they get more residents.

What were the hours like and were you able to do entire 3rd year rotations within the same hospital?

 

[bic_atlantis]

anybody have a list of programs that aren't boards heavy? tried to search for a list and couldn't find something comprehensive enough, was wondering if maybe anybody could lend a hand. thanks in advance

 

[NMDO]

What were the hours like and were you able to do entire 3rd year rotations within the same hospital?

Hours seemed pretty reasonable for an ortho residency. I did only rotated there as a student so I don't have all the details. I think they go to Atlanta for Peds, not sure about other out rotations. Might want to contact the program if you want the details

 

[MSII UPike]

Hours seemed pretty reasonable for an ortho residency. I did only rotated there as a student so I don't have all the details. I think they go to Atlanta for Peds, not sure about other out rotations. Might want to contact the program if you want the details

Im too only interested in knowing about MS III students rotations so I appreciate any additional details u can provide. What r the chances of getting to do 4th rotations at the same place n eventually landing a residency there too? Did residents ever grade u or is it always attendings? Did u spend most of the time at Midtown medical or Jack Hughston? How much influence do residents have in residency interviews?
Sorry for all the Qs...

 

[hopeful2015]

anyone have experiences to share from Fall 2017 auditions? as a student looking to apply for 2018 auditions I'd love to hear as much advice as possible

 

[TheOther]

I doubt we'll hear much until after Match Day.

 

[SW0LDIER]

Anyone have any information on the New Mexico Program? Mountain View Regional Medical Center.

 

[hbslax4]

Anyone have any information on the New Mexico Program? Mountain View Regional Medical Center.

I don’t think they are taking medical students for audition rotations yet. I believe they are waiting until they have a couple classes of residence in place. But beyond that, I have not heard anything about the program .

 

[Wozo30]

Congrats to those who matched and good luck to those who are currently in the hunt. Please help others and post a review of programs you rotated at. As always if you'd like to post anonymously just PM me your review and I'll post it here. thank you guys for helping out!



Program:

General:

Attendings:

Residents:

Didactics:

Operative Experience:

Clinic Experience:

Research:

Lifestyle:

Pros:

Cons:

 

[hbslax4]

According to Botsford/Beaumont’s ortho residency website, they state “3 residents per year chosen through NRMP”. Anyway know if they have officially decided to be in the NRMP match only next year?

 

[bic_atlantis]

Anybody have a recent review of the Garden City program in Michigan? Trying to gauge how likely they are to receive ACGME accreditation

 

[heraclez]

Program: MountainView Regional Medical Center: Las Cruces, NM

General: Full disclosure, I only interviewed here, and I did NOT do an away rotation. I actually tried setting an away rotation with this program, but it fell through. I know the year before, they were hesitant to take medical students for away rotations as they wanted to focus primarily on getting their program up and running.

As many of you know, this is a relatively new program. After match this year (2018) they will be having their first third year residents. Some of the things that stood out for me: they stated that their call schedule is essentially non-existent, they focused heavily on lectures and learning, and had a lot of hand and upper extremity/ sports experience.

They primarily rotate in Las Cruces, El Paso, and Phoenix (Dr. Romanelli has connections in phoenix, and it’s apparently one of their stronger rotations they say).

Attendings: Dr. Romanelli and Dr. Metzger were the main interviewers I met. Romanelli is a sports heavy, open, and seemingly friendly guy which I really appreciated. He was blatantly honest about how new their program was and the flaws associated with a newer program, yet he was also extremely personable. It was hard not to like him immediately. He showed us the statistical data of their residents and their OITE percentiles compared to the national, which if I can recall was respectable. He was very thorough with explaining exactly what to expect, but I honestly can’t remember everything he talked about.

Residents: Awesome bunch of guys, very personable and relaxed. I only interviewed, so I only had a brief experience with them.

Didactics: Supposedly, they have strong didactics. The residents are expected to formulate weekly presentations in large topics, e.g. Everything about the ACL. It seemed like it would be close to a 10 hour lecture, but they said they would study and compile lectures that could last anywhere from 2-4 hours at least twice a week. Seems like this is a strong suit.

Operative Experience: Honestly, I have NO idea about their operative experience.

Clinic Experience: Again, unsure. It seems like the majority of their clinical experience is in private clinics.

Research: They are such a new program and they seem like they care a lot about research. I’m assuming this is because in large part the ACGME accreditation requires it. For example, the 2nd years there were already working on compiling research with their attendings.

Lifestyle: Seems super chill. Maybe the most chill of any place I interviewed at. Since the call schedule has yet to be “figured out,” they are basically working in private practice clinics it seems so far. I was thrown off by this. Almost seemed like TOO CHILL of a program.

Las Cruces is a small town. It’s 3 hours from the biggest city in New Mexico (Albuquerque) and about 1 hour from El Paso. From local people who grew up in New Mexico, many people call it “The Land of Entrapment,” suggesting you get stuck there and can’t get out. I’m not sure how true this is, but people who have moved there seem to love it. Lots of nature, hiking, solid sunny weather with little precipitation. It does get cold though, it’s true desert weather.

Pros: Really chill lifestyle, Seemingly solid didactics, Early hand/UE and sports operative experience. One on one with attendings who seem extremely eager to grow their residency. Many rotations in Phoenix, which could be great to get out of the small town of Las Cruces.

Cons: Too new of a program. No call schedule. No clue about their trauma, joints, pediatric rotations. Small town, relatively far from a large city. Many rotations in Phoenix which could be inconvenient to move around.

 

[phillycheese917]

Im currently a second year at Largo Medical Center. Wanted to post a little blurb about our program. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Accreditation status: Preaccreditation but we are very confident that we will receive ACGME accreditation. Several other specialties at Largo have gotten accreditation.

Largo Medical Center
Orthopedic program that prides itself in its family style closeness of attending’s and residents as well as promoting early operative experience.

Rotation sites
The program is based out of Largo Medical Center located near Clearwater FL and minutes away from local beaches. The “house” hospital rotation is comprised of community trauma with adjunctive training that can be tailored to specific specialties, especially in the later years.

Sports training is completed in Tampa and multiple surgery centers near Largo headed by multiple attendings, including a recent Largo grad who completed his fellowship at Andrews Sports Institute. Joint rotations begin in the second year at the VA which provides a large amount of hands-on experience and learning where we also work closely with another recent Largo grad who treats most of his hip arthroplasty through an anterior approach. Foot/Ankle, Spine, and Hand are all begun in the second or third year. Trauma is completed at St. Joes which is a near-by level 2 trauma facility. Our only rotation outside of a 30-minute vicinity is a 3 month pediatric rotation which takes place in Dayton OH, which will likely be changing to a St. Petersburg location in upcoming years.

Schedule
This program prides itself on being one where ample operative experience is blended with an enjoyable life style, offering time to read and prepare for cases to maximize benefit. Residents who graduate from this program feel ready to take on fellowships or general orthopedics as a result of broad operative exposure and autonomy allowed in the OR.

Location
Warm FL near many beaches and outdoor activities (what more needs to be said). Many residents live in downtown St. Petersburg which is 20-30 mins away from main hospital.

Education
Didactics are completed from 6-12 on Friday mornings. Research opportunities are encountered throughout training years with access to NSU IRB, statisticians, and a research liaison.

Extra-Curriculars
There are many nearby beaches for swimming, kayaking, and fishing. There are also multiple street and off-roading bike trails. Downtown Tampa and St. Pete are nearby with lively bars and restaurants.

Recent Grads
Two sports fellowships- Andrew’s sports institute
Joints fellowship- Allegheny
Trauma fellowship- Shands UF and Calgary
Shoulder elbow fellowship- Case Western
Spine Fellowship- Texas Back Institute

Med Student Requirements
Must be able to work hard and well with the team. Low minimum board score to rotate but competitive scores are always a plus.

 

[orthomatched2018]

Will add more programs as I have time.I would advise you guys in this process to pick programs that have in house trauma rotations bc these types of programs are the operatively legit residencies.

I wasn’t too interested in programs saying they had a “high OITE” group residency score. On my audition rotations that just meant the interns and 2s were out of OR cases and stuck on night float or floor work duty and used that time to do orthobullets questions.


Program: Mercy Health Orthopedic Residency Youngstown, Ohio also previously known as St Joe’s warren Ohio ortho residency


General:

Welcome to the ortho fraternity. These guys (and gal) are a tight knit group of residents who are the best surgically trained ortho residents of the programs I rotated at ( largo, and the California programs)


They recently changed the home base to their 600 bed level 1 trauma hospital in Youngstown but still spend a good amount of time at warren 15 minutes away with their general guys


Attendings:

I didn’t get to work with all of them but the ones I did.

Woods, Williams, J at their warren hospital: these attendings are laid back and let their residents fly.


Downtown trauma guys: they are The real deal. Gentile and Schrickel rock complex pilons, tabs, plateaus all day and are hilarious at the same time. These guys are the ones I would like to grab a beer with some day


Hand: butler is very technically good and a walking encyclopedia of hand knowledge


No malignant attendings surprisingly from what i saw



Residents: All really good people at heart. They all work hard and never complain especially the 2nd years who are basically on call every 3-4th night. All laid back but not one big stereotype (except they all love to drink) Some are country, some are more studying type and quiet. The residents are basically all best friends and hang out on weekends all the time at social places. They invite the students too which is nice.


chiefs match into their fellowship of choice . Most go into joints, sports, spine, and hand


Didactics: grand rounds style multidisciplinary fracture conference Tuesday. Indication conference and presentations Thursday. They have their own student fracture conference on Thursday’s too. And OITE review Friday afternoon. Attendings do lecture. I liked the education bc it wasn’t overbearing. These guys weren’t stressing minute pimp questions from Millers


Operative Experience:

They are the best surgical trained residents in the OR. the 5th years routinely doing reverse total shoulders, complex knee and hip joint revisions, ACLs, double anchor row rotator cuff repairs, mangled ass fractures and anterior hips skin to skin with the attending in the corner of the room pimping med students

-The 2 was doing total knees skin to skin and all the intramedullary nails like a 4th year at other places.

-the 3 on trauma was doing tibia plateaus and pilons with the trauma guys. He said that the senior residents get to do a good bit of the pelvic and acetabulum fx stuff


Clinic Experience:

The junior levels and one upper cover their Friday half clinic day and use that time to pimp med students on indications for surgery. The 3s and 4s do more speciality office bc they do block schedule mentorship model for peds, hand, foot and ankle, etc.


Research:

They all said they are now on one project or another due to acgme changes.


Lifestyle:

Junior level residents it’s tough. They are fielding consults, ED admissions, floor calls while the seniors are walking them through cases so they always have work to catch up on after cases. They take call at the level one trauma center and there are nights they get crushed and come back in the next morning ready to do it again. Upper levels when on call know how to handle anything and operate on any acute injury so they say it’s worth it


Senior residents it’s much better. They are doing most of their office and elective stuff like foot and ankle, peds, upper extremity in their third year and get to leave after office. 4th and 5th Years just operate and do their minimal office and admin requirements.



Pros:

Chiefs operate better than attendings at other places. Go see for yourself. 4th year said he’s onto logging 3000+ cases before he graduates.

-strong in joints, sports, hand, and trauma



Cons:

This is a true old school style community ortho residency where the attendings put a lot of trust in the residents bc they see how hard they work and how hard they care for their patients. I think their cons is that you will have to work hard here. There will be many sleepless nights as an intern and 2. their peds and spine experience is not strong like their other rotations.

 

[Eksile]

Any one rotate (or is already at) the Metro program in Wyoming, Michigan and care to leave a review?

 

[phillycheese917]

I would advise you guys in this process to pick programs that have in house trauma rotations bc these types of programs are the operatively legit residencies.

Don't agree with this statement. Having a house trauma rotation does not dictate whether a residency is an "operatively legit" residency. For those rotating, I would recommend observing who scrubs into cases and how comfortable are residents when they are operating. (Ex. Are 4-5th years comfortable enough to walk junior residents through various cases, how many attendings are allowing residents do things, are attendings allowing residents to have autonomy in the operating room etc.)

In our residency, we do not have a house trauma rotation at our home facility, but go to a level 2 trauma center close by. By no means would I say our program isn't an operatively legit residency as we get very early operative autonomy and have seniors who are comfortable enough to walk juniors through various procedures.

I do agree with your statement about high OITE scores. I don't think that is something to weigh heavily on. In my opinion, residency is a time learn...yes...but I think more importantly it is time to build muscle memory and get solid hands on experience.

 

[bic_atlantis]

Any newer reviews on the Olympia Fields program in Illinois???

 

[Duotone]

No clue about their trauma, joints, pediatric rotations.

Joints in-house PGY3 and Phoenix PGY5
Peds Level 1 PGY2 and PGY4 in Phoenix with call
Trauma Level 1 PGY3 and PGY5 in Phoenix
Tumor Phoenix PGY2 and PGY4.
Spine PGY3 in-house
Foot & Ankle PGY2 & PGY4 El Paso
Hand, Sports, Upper Extremity, Joints, Spine in-house.
Early arthroscopy experience.
No fellows. One resident per attending per service. Ample OR time and exposure.
PGY1 is didactic heavy; see one do one teach one principle.

All in all; a new program.

 

[BeenThereDoneThatOrtho]

Does anyone have any new information on the Orthopedic Residency at Grandview in Dayton, OH? Autonomy, operating experience, good group? Thank you in advance.

 

[The Tube Fairy]

Any updates on programs from people who rotated this audition cycle? Specifically interested in Pinnacle, PCOM, South Pointe, Jack Hughston, Modesto and Doctors. Thanks in advance

 

[BeenThereDoneThatOrtho]

Modesto vs Riverside? Thoughts?

 

[DNC127]

Any new reviews from those going through the process now that match day is approaching? Would be nice to keep this updated.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Did anyone on here rotate at South Pointe last year and have any insight?

 

[SW0LDIER]

Any updates on programs from people who rotated this audition cycle? Specifically interested in Pinnacle, PCOM, South Pointe, Jack Hughston, Modesto and Doctors. Thanks in advance

All strong programs and worth auditioning at. PCOM and Hughston accreditation still up in the air but I've heard that they are very strong programs. Hopefully they both get it.

 

[SW0LDIER]

Modesto vs Riverside? Thoughts?

Both very strong programs with a work-horse mentality. They have reputations of a "tough" work environment but I have heard that Riverside at least is working to ameliorate that. Also, it's in a much nicer area than Modesto. Still, both programs are phenomenal. They graduate fantastic surgeons with strong fellowship matches and they are pro-DO. That's the best you can ask for.

 

[SW0LDIER]

Did anyone on here rotate at South Pointe last year and have any insight?

Buddy of mine did. Loved it. Strong surgical prowess, good trauma, good autonomy, accredited, and affiliated with Cleveland Clinic so you have the name and get to rotate there for some services.

 

[SW0LDIER]

Any newer reviews on the Olympia Fields program in Illinois???

Classically considered one of the "most competitive" DO ortho programs but I didn't get that vibe. Good operative experience. However, accreditation up in the air as ACGME is unhappy with their residency structure (lots of out rotations, some extremely strong and why it is considered to be very competitive). They have since removed some of their out rotations and will now be doing more in-house which isn't the greatest news at it is a lower volume hospital with much fewer attendings. If they are able to get accreditation while maintaining some of their strong out rotations (which I think they will be able to), it's a decent place to match at.

 

[DNC127]

Classically considered one of the "most competitive" DO ortho programs but I didn't get that vibe. Good operative experience. However, accreditation up in the air as ACGME is unhappy with their residency structure (lots of out rotations, some extremely strong and why it is considered to be very competitive). They have since removed some of their out rotations and will now be doing more in-house which isn't the greatest news at it is a lower volume hospital with much fewer attendings. If they are able to get accreditation while maintaining some of their strong out rotations (which I think they will be able to), it's a decent place to match at.

They did get accreditation the other day!

 

[SW0LDIER]

They did get accreditation the other day!

Oh, that's awesome!