Residency & Fellowship
The Orthopaedic staff and faculty at Temple University Hospital are made up of sixteen members with expertise in sports medicine, joint reconstruction, spine surgery, hand surgery, foot and ankle surgery, and orthopaedic trauma. Combined with our core faculty members at our affiliated institutions (Abington Memorial Hospital, Shriners Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children), these surgeons provide a robust experience and education to our residents.
There are four categorical residency positions available annually. Six months of the first year of residency are spent within the Orthopaedic Surgery department at Temple University Hospital. Three months are spent on the orthopaedic trauma service while also seeing daily consults. The remaining 3 months are spent rotating through various orthopaedic subspecialty clinics including trauma, hand, spine, and sports. Four months are spent rotating on general surgery services (surgical intensive care unit, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, and trauma). The remaining 2 months consist of orthopaedic electives in emergency medicine and anesthesia.
The second year of the residency is spent at Temple University Hospital in orthopaedics. The residents rotate through four services of three months each at Temple. These services include:
- Sports Medicine
- Orthopaedic Trauma
- Joint Reconstruction
- Hand Surgery
The resident is expected to learn how to perform the essentials of an orthopaedic physical examination and participate in the work-up of new patients admitted to their service. The resident attends their service’s outpatient office hours, and is present in the operating room for surgery, performing procedures according to his/her ability, under the supervision of the Chief resident and Attending physician.
During the third year of the residency, six months are spent on pediatric services, including three months at Shriners Hospital for Children and three months at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children. Both are the pediatric affiliates of Temple University Hospital. Shriners Hospital focuses on pediatric orthopaedic problems such as scoliosis, developmental dysplasia of the hip, cerebral palsy, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, perthes disease, congenital hand anomalies, and clubfeet. St. Christopher's Hospital is one of two level 1 pediatric trauma centers in Philadelphia and residents there focus on the diagnosis and management of more acute problems in children including fractures, acute infections, and other common pediatric orthopaedic problems.
An additional three months of the third year are spent rotating on the orthopaedic oncology service at Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple University Hospital, combined with a foot and ankle experience at Temple University Hospital and affiliated hospitals. The remaining three months are spent with Temple faculty at Temple University Hospital – Jeanes Campus.
The fourth year of residency includes six months at Abington Memorial Hospital. There the residents benefit from taking the lead at a busy community orthopaedic practice with emphasis on joint reconstruction, hand surgery, spine surgery, and orthopaedic trauma. The remaining six months are spent at Temple University Hospital as the senior resident on the general orthopaedic service and the spine service for three months each.
The fifth year of orthopaedic residency is spent at Temple University Hospital as a chief resident. The chiefs are responsible for the supervision and care of the patients on the orthopaedic service, in the clinics, and for the instruction of medical students rotating through the Orthopaedic Service.
Didactic conferences are held daily at 6:30 a.m. These conferences cover various orthopaedic topics and include regular fracture conferences, journal clubs, basic science and biomechanics discussions, indications conferences, M&M conferences, and a review of the week's surgery. Grand Rounds are held on Wednesday mornings during the academic year and include both in-house and guest speakers.
Research, either basic science or clinical, is a program requirement. Each resident must complete at least one project suitable for peer review publication prior to graduation. Both the Medical School and the University offer access to various facilities and expertise including bioengineering, kinesiology, an animal laboratory, and statistics. The Department maintains a complete patient database, which is accessible to all residents and attending staff. There is an active medical student summer research program that often involves the residents as mentors. The Department publishes an annual journal including extended abstracts detailing research activity for the year. In recent years, residents have presented their research at local, regional, and national conferences, receiving numerous awards for their projects.
The program selects its residents through the National Intern & Residency Matching Program. Applications for residency should be made via ERAS by November 1st, during the senior year of Medical School.
J. Milo Sewards, MD
Residency Director