Orthopedic Curriculum
The Orthopedic Surgery program has the primary goal of graduating well-rounded, highly competent orthopedic surgeons who can immediately practice orthopedics or pursue fellowships. Four residents are admitted annually through a highly selective process. Two through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and two through the Military Match Program. The program's educational philosophy believes that the best environment for learning clinical medicine is achieved with 1 patient, 1 attending and 1 resident. Graduated responsibility in the operating room, as well as pre- and post-operative planning phases, is progressed so at the end of the program each resident is comfortable and competent in all subspecialty areas.
Education Components
Anatomy Conference: (Weekly, July - October) Residents work with faculty on anatomy and surgical approaches. Upper-level residents lead this didactic session with oversight from core faculty members.
Core Curriculum Conference/ OITE Review: (Weekly) We are using Orthobullets curriculum to augment these didactic sessions. The conferences are meant to provide the residents with the essentials of orthopedic education. These sessions help to prepare students for the yearly OITE and subsequent ABOS board examination.
Fracture Indications Conferences: This weekly conference will be a presentation of fracture and trauma cases that have been treated the weekend prior to the conference. The focus will be on identification, classification and treatment of fractures. Orthopedic faculty will lead the discussion using this case-based format along with evidence-based literature.
Grand Rounds: This conference is held monthly. A combination of faculty and visiting professors present on a topic of their choice.
Journal Club: These conferences occur monthly. The current format centers on a subspecialty of the month. Articles will be chosen from the current JBJS and supplemented with articles from related subspecialty journals to provide discussion for general orthopedics and subspecialties.
M&M Conference: Will be held monthly. Residents and attendings discuss complications encountered during the previous month. Focus is on improving outcomes and critical decision making.
Motor Skills: In the PGY1 year all residents will be sent to an orthopedic boot camp. Industry sponsored lectures and hands-on experience using sawbones and cadavers, designed to help residents to develop their motor skills.
Each year residents attend an instructional meeting with their classmates. Additionally, residents are encouraged to attend any meeting in the US where they will be presenting their own research. Funding from the department of Graduate Medical Education covers the cost of the yearly meeting including travel, hotel accommodations, and meals. Instructional meetings typically attended are:
- PGY1: AO Basic course
- PGY2: AO Advanced
- PGY3: Arthroscopy Course/SOMOS
- PGY4: MSK Pathology Course
- PGY5: Maine Review Course / AAOS Annual Meeting
Research Meetings: Monthly meeting to go over research currently ongoing. Discuss opportunities for students and residents as well as a forum to discuss and collaborate.
Life Series Lectures: PGY-4 and 5 Residents will have an opportunity to engage with experts from a wide variety of topics to prepare for life beyond residency. Topics will include real estate, mortgages, life insurance, 401k and retirement, etc.
Womack/Cape Fear Valley Health Orthopedic Rotation for Students
The Department of Orthopedic Surgery offers senior medical students an elective course designed to provide a thorough and extensive exposure to academic orthopedic surgery to adequately prepare them for residency training. Eligible students must complete their core medicine and surgery clerkships before taking this fourth-year elective.
The course consists of a four-week rotation. One week will be spent at Cape Fear Valley Health and one week at Womack AMC. Rotating students gain exposure to operating room procedures, diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal pathology in the emergency room setting, and the evaluation and care of both orthopedic surgery inpatients and outpatients. Rotating students participate in all of the educational and didactic programs of the department. Each rotating student is paired with a faculty preceptor during their month-long educational experience
Elective Objectives
The course is geared toward medical students interested in pursuing residency training and a career in orthopedic surgery. Our elective rotation has four main objectives:
- to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the various types of injuries and conditions treated by orthopedic surgeons both operatively and nonoperatively
- to teach students the principles behind the evaluation and treatment of patients with musculoskeletal pathology
- to give students exposure and experience in the operating room, working on developing basic surgical skills
- to teach students how to access and critically evaluate the orthopedic surgery literature through participation in journal clubs and a formal end-of-rotation presentation on a topic of their choice
Clinical Training
Students are assigned to a specific orthopedic surgeon at CFVH and Womack AMC. Rotating medical students become vital members of their team, participating in rounds and providing clinical care in the emergency department, outpatient clinic, and operating rooms. During the rotation, you are required to spend one night a week plus one weekend day on call in the emergency department at Womack AMC and CFVH, where you assist the orthopedic residents in the evaluation and management of acute orthopedic injuries.
Didactic Program
Each student is assigned a preceptor who is a full-time faculty member within the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. You meet with your preceptor weekly throughout the rotation. Rotating medical students are active participants in the department's didactic program, including our weekly Wednesday morning academic conference and division-specific lectures, conferences, and journal clubs.
You are expected to be prepared for conferences and ready to answer questions tailored to your training level and knowledge base. Additionally, during the four-week rotation, you participate in resident-led education and skill development sessions including a splinting and casting workshop, sawbones fracture fixation module, and lessons on interpreting musculoskeletal imaging.
As a requirement of the senior medical student elective, each rotating student develops and presents a didactic talk on a topic of interest at the end of the rotation.
Method of Evaluation
Rotating students are evaluated by the chief resident assigned to their service and also by their faculty preceptor. The evaluation is based on performance during the rotation, including level of knowledge demonstrated during conference and in the operating room, the ability to work as part of the clinical care team, and quality of interactions with patients and peers. In addition, at the conclusion of the rotations, participating students are required to submit an evaluation of the experience.
Elective Schedule
The four-week elective is offered from May 1 to December 30. Please refer to the academic calendars and elective block dates for more information. There are 4 rotating student slots per rotation. In the case of overflow, we make every effort to accommodate all qualified students.