Iowa orthopaedic residency strengths

I am happy to have the opportunity to point out some of the many strengths of the residency program.

The Department, and specifically the Residency Program, has a long history.  We have been training residents continually as a Department of Orthopaedic Surgery since 1920 under the leadership of only 4 Department Chairmen.  This highlights the stability of our Department which is an important program characteristic for residents in-training.  This long history is part of the reason we enjoy the reputation as being one of the finest residency training programs in the country.  Residents that train with us become part of our history and the Department’s reputation becomes a part of their background throughout their career.

The current Department is not all about history or reputation.  We have 25 full time faculty members.  The seniority of our faculty is evidenced by the fact that we have 14 full Professors of Orthopaedic Surgery led by the Department Chairman, Dr. Buckwalter.  The faculty are all full time clinicians, researchers and orthopaedic educators.  Most of them devote the majority of their time to subspecialized practices of orthopaedic surgery and are all fully engaged with the residents in-training.  We have relatively few fellows compared to other departments of similar stature.  This is by design and indicates the importance we place on the residency training program.  We were one of the first departments to fully subspecialize orthopaedic training, and all clinical care and education is centered on 8 teams covering the major orthopaedic specialties.  Residents are able to focus their learning through 2, 3 or 4 rotations in all the major orthopaedic subspecialties.  We feel that focused, sub specialized education, reading, clinical care and cases are the best way to learn the complexities of the orthopaedic subspecialties and our rotations are designed to offer this type of sub specialized experience.

One of the advantages of our training program is that we cover only two hospitals, one of which is a VA hospital.  This allows us to roll the two call schedules into a single call schedule.  We have three residents on call per night two of which are on home call.  With 30 residents to share call coverage it is easy to see that this results in an excellent call schedule.  When this is coupled with the small town environment it leads to excellent opportunities for home reading and studying, outside activities and family life.

In addition to the clinical services, the department offers our residents tremendous research opportunities.  We are the #1 department in the country in NIH funding.  The majority of the faculty members are actively engaged in research and seek out resident involvement in their projects.  There are opportunities to participate in basic, translational and clinical investigations with experienced and often world renowned faculty members.  The residents have two research rotations, one each in their R3 and R4 years.  We have an excellent Senior Residents Day Program which is the culmination of each resident’s research efforts as a resident.

The Iowa Orthopaedic Residency Training Program, because of its reputation, has the opportunity to attract excellent resident candidates from around the country who then become superb residents and have great careers as orthopedic surgeons.  We typically select one or two residents from the State of Iowa, one or two from elsewhere that have done rotations on our clinical services and two or more that come through our interview process.  Residents are actively engaged in selecting their future colleagues.  Residents interview candidates, sponsor and participate in evening dinners with the potential residents and put on a morning brunch for spouses or significant others.

The overall atmosphere of the residency is relatively low key and interactive.  Residents have individual desks in the Department neighboring all of the faculty offices.  We are all in one area and all participate in conferences in the same conference room.  Although residents participate in a wide range of clinical activities, from Level 1 Trauma Center cases, to high level subspecialized referrals, it is all within our single university tertiary care hospital and all out of the same Department where we share space and offices together.  Residents are very involved in decisions that affect the residency.  On a yearly basis they are engaged in making suggestions to change rotations, call schedules, conferences and other activities of importance to their training.  Overall, the residency has a low key, small town, collegial feel that allows residents to spend their years together and develop life long relationships with their colleagues that have gone through these important formative years for their careers.

These are just a few of the advantages of our residency program.  There are many others; we are very proud of it as are our residents.

J. L. Marsh M.D.
Professor
Caroll B. Larson Chair
Residency program director