Sample Rotation Schedule (PDF)

Educational Conferences

A robust educational conference curriculum has been developed to provide continuous learning which includes lectures, literature reviews, journal clubs, anatomy labs, skills labs and case discussions. Topics rotate on a two-year schedule, with high yield topics revisited on a more frequent basis.

Weekly Conference Schedule:

• Monday: Trauma and Fracture Conference
• Tuesday: Sports and Hand
• Wednesday: Adult Reconstruction, Foot and Ankle
• Thursday: Pediatrics, Oncology, Spine and Basic Science
• Friday: Journal Club, Morbidity and Mortality, Quality Improvement, Grand Rounds

Special Conferences:
Each month, several additional conferences occur to provide residents and faculty with additional exposure and education in subspecialties of orthopaedics. These conferences are on Wednesday evenings in a variety of venues outside of the hospital to provide a more casual environment for the event. These meetings are often industry-sponsored. While evening conference attendance is not mandatory, they are typically well attended by both residents and faculty and usually include dinner and an opportunity for socializing.

Visiting Professors:
Each year, our program has three separate visiting professorships at which we host renowned orthopaedic surgeons from across the U.S. Residents are excused from their daily duties and call to take part in day-long lectures and case discussions from leading experts in different orthopaedic subspecialties.

Intern Bootcamp:

During the first two months of intern year, special conferences take place three to four days per week in the afternoon to cover the basics of orthopaedics and patient care.

Resident Clinic

Beginning during first year, residents run an orthopaedic "resident clinic" at both Ascension Via Christi St. Francis and Wesley Medical Center. These clinics primarily serve uninsured and underinsured patients, and are staffed by local attending surgeons on a voluntary basis. The clinic provides residents with the opportunity to function with a high level of autonomy, while seeing patients for longitudinal orthopaedic care in an outpatient setting. Residents typically participate in resident clinic for half a day per week throughout the duration of residency.

Call Schedule

Call for our residents is orthopaedic trauma call in both of our level-one trauma centers. Emergency department and trauma coverage is provided 24/7/365 by our residents—this provides ample exposure to first-line treatment of common orthopaedic trauma injuries. First-year residents will begin taking call from day one, with the backup of a third- or fourth-year resident throughout intern year. Even when on non-orthopaedic rotations, our residents still take trauma call, giving them every opportunity to build their orthopaedic knowledge and skills. All calls are defined as home-call, allowing flexibility to get out of the hospital whenever possible. Weekend calls provide residents with hands-on operative experience throughout the five years of residency and builds a foundation upon which they can further develop their skills. All residents get a minimum of two weekends off call per month.

First Year: 8 calls per month

• All calls taken with backup from a third- or fourth-year resident

Second Year: 7 calls per month

Third Year: 7 calls per month

• Most covered by intern. One call every other month without first-year coverage

Fourth Year: 2 to 4 calls per month

• All calls with first-year coverage

Fifth Year: Chief Call