Overview of Residency Program Structure
Prior to entry into the Orthopaedic Surgery Training Program, the resident must satisfactorily complete six months of General Surgery and six months of Orthopaedic Surgery and related services at the PGY–1 level at the University of Pennsylvania.
All residents rotate through a structured program providing depth and exposure to multi–attending subspecialty services including:
- Adult arthroplasty
- Sports
- Trauma
- Hand and upper extremity
- Shoulder and elbow
- Foot and ankle
- Oncology
- Pediatric
- Spine
- General orthopaedics
- Neuro-Orthopaedics
The Penn Orthopaedics Residency Program also provides highly specialized experiences in extremity reconstruction, neuro–orthopaedics, pelvic and acetabular surgery, adolescent and young adult hip, and pediatric sports and hand. Residents will learn in an array of practice settings including a busy Level I trauma center (HUP), specialized community hospitals (Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and Pennsylvania Hospital), a children's hospital (CHOP), and the VA Medical Center, combining both preceptorship and service–based models.
Weekly Grand Rounds expose residents to pre–eminent surgeons and investigators from around the world and service–based conferences offer a robust didactic education. This is further supplemented with a yearly book program, regular cadaver sessions, arthroscopic wet–labs, saw–bones practicals, travel to organized courses and monthly Journal Clubs. Residents regularly present at national meetings, have the opportunity to cover area sports teams and also manage the University of Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Journal.
Six–Year Residency Program
As a result of its commitment to research and academics, the residency training program offers two residents a six–year program including a full year of laboratory based orthopaedic research after completion of the PGY–2 year. This timing is purposefully chosen so that the resident has had significant orthopaedic clinical experience prior to the laboratory year.
The selection for this six–year program is done through a separate match number in NRMP. The research year is designed not only as a time to learn lab techniques and conduct significant, high-quality orthopaedic research (both basic and clinical), but also to impart the "soft sciences", which include:
- Grant and paper writing skills
- Developing and designing a research project
- Posing a good question and hypothesis
- Conducting a multidisciplinary research project
- Presenting and publishing results most effectively
While there are no clinical or on–call responsibilities during this year, the resident will participate in departmental activities and conferences such as Resident Conference, Grand Rounds, and Journal Club. This year provides an excellent foundation upon which an academic career can be built.