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University of Florida (Gainesville)  Hot PDF Print E-mail
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Program Information
Website: http://www.ortho.ufl.edu/
City: Gainesville
State/Province: Florida
Residents per class: 4
University of Florida (Gainesville) Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program


User reviews

Average user rating from: 2 user(s)

Overall rating
9.2
Staff Surgeons
9.5
Didactics/Teaching
8.0
Operating Experience
10.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
9.0
Residents
10.0
Lifestyle
10.0
Location
8.5
Overall Experience
9.0
 

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

An Update, Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Written by 07UTGrad   -  View all my reviews  - Top 50 Reviewer

Overall rating
9.3
Staff Surgeons
10.0
Didactics/Teaching
8.0
Operating Experience
10.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
9.0
Residents
10.0
Lifestyle
10.0
Location
9.0
Overall Experience
9.0
Program Information
Staff/Faculty/Chairman: This is an update to my review 1 year ago. Dr. Sahajpal has significantly increased his caseload in the shoulder/elbow department. We have also added Dr. Decker, a recent graduate of Emory's residency program as well as the well-known spine fellowship at University of California San Diego. The department is still actively seeking surgeons in other areas.
Didactics/Teaching: The morning conference schedule has remained the same with the exception of the format. We have now moved to defined topics on an attempted 2-year schedule to ensure that all major topics are covered. There has been a significant positive increase in faculty involvement over the last year in morning didactics as well. We have also been fortunate to have several visiting professors over the last year, many of whom are well-known leaders in their individual fields of orthopedics.
Operating Experience: This is essentially unchanged from before. We have added a shoulder/elbow fellow and will be adding a trauma fellow next year. The fellows have remained as a compliment to the residents, maintaining the high caseload each resident sees during their 5 years. The foot ankle rotation has solidified and is now a dedicated rotation. Also, joints has moved from being a chief-only rotation to a chief and junior rotation. Residents will now see 6 months of dedicated joints plus another 6 months on the VA rotation, which is primarily total joint replacement. A junior-level sports rotation has also been worked in to provide additional experience with arthroscopy. The new hospital tower will be opening in late fall of this year. Most orthopedic services, with the exception of pediatrics and spine, will be relocated to the new facilities.
Clinic Experience: The clinic experience is unchanged over the last year.
Research Opportunities: Research is still widely available. The research requirements for the program have now changed with only a requirement for one research project during the entire residency. This does not need to be published to satisfy the criteria. With access to a full cadaver lab, arthroscopy lab, biomechanical lab, and the many ideas of our faculty, there is no shortage of research available. The department also employs staff who will help you complete IRB approval, edit documents, and create a publishable paper.
Residents: We are still taking 4 residents per year and will be at the full 20 residents in the program in one year. The residency program still has a very collegial atmosphere. There are many instances of residents picking up each other's call for family emergencies or unexpected changes in schedule. In the last year, we have had a program fishing trip and golf outing in addition to yearly get-togethers (Christmas party, beginning of the year party, etc...).
Lifestyle: Night float continues to be a big positive for the program. No one is on primary call for their service at night, and call is approximately one 24-hour weekend call per month for juniors and one overnight in-home call every 1 1/2 weeks for chiefs. Chiefs continue to only get called into the hospital less than 1/2 the time on call.
Location/Housing: With the recent change in economy, housing has dropped in price significantly, making cost of living even more affordable. Beaches are still nearby, and drives into work are short compared to many big cities.
Limitations: The program director has been very receptive to the needs of the program, as you can see above. In one year, we have addressed many of the shortcomings noted in the previous review. While this program, like all, has areas that can be improved, it is obvious that the administration behind the University of Florida program is committed to addressing those deficiencies quickly.
Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: The program continues to improve on an already excellent foundation for learning. Residents will feel fully qualified to be general orthopedists, should they choose. If you are interested in a fellowship, we continue to place our residents in top fellowships across the country. This is an outstanding program that should be considered near the top of your list.
Qualification
I am a current resident of this program.
Date of Rotation: 7/2007-6/2012
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

University of Florida/Shands, Monday, 11 February 2008

Written by 07UTGrad   -  View all my reviews  - Top 50 Reviewer

Overall rating
9.1
Staff Surgeons
9.0
Didactics/Teaching
8.0
Operating Experience
10.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
9.0
Residents
10.0
Lifestyle
10.0
Location
8.0
Overall Experience
9.0
Program Information
Staff/Faculty/Chairman: Staff - The program has several physician extenders on every service, significantly reducing your scut work and getting you into the OR. They exist on both trauma and elective services. The various secretaries for the departments are easy to work with and very accomodating. In particular, the residency program director's secretary is extremely helpful and knowledgable, getting you everything from refunds for educational trips to prescription pads.

Faculty - There are board certified staff in every subspecialty of Orthopedics. Specifically, there are 2 pediatric, 1 foot/ankle, 4 upper extremity, 2 joint, 2 trauma, 2 oncology, 2 sports, and 1 spine. I've found all of the attendings to be approachable and they all like to teach (some more than others). This is the first program I've been around that doesn't have at least 1 "malignant" attending that can make your life miserable while on their service.

Chairman - Dr. Gearen is the main joint reconstruction surgeon in addition to being program director. He's very likable, easy to get along with, and runs the department well.
Didactics/Teaching: Didactics are resident run. They include a daily morning conference (M-F) at 7 AM. There are no evening or weekend conferences. Every day is dedicated to a different specialty, and an attending of that specialty will usually be present to answer any questions regarding the particular topic. The conference includes about 40 minutes of presentation and Q&A followed by presentation by the trauma junior of the patients who came in the previous night and discussion by the trauma surgeons regarding approaches and interesting points regarding those patients and their injuries.

Teaching outside of didactics is above average. Most of the attendings enjoy teaching and will do so without you requesting it.
Operating Experience: You begin operating as a PGY-1 and don't slow down until the end. There is a very good mix of trauma and elective orthopedics in the program, with the majority of trauma experience in the junior years and the majority of elective experience in the chief years. Perhaps the weakest area of experience is in foot-ankle, as there is no dedicated rotation (you mix in foot-ankle with your joint rotation). This may change as the program grows. Otherwise, you will feel confident in operating as a general orthopedist when you leave the program. There is also a good mix of outpatient and inpatient surgeries with the opening of the Florida Surgical Center in the parking lot of the Orthopedic Sports Medicine Institute (OSMI), the main clinical and office space for the program. The majority of upper extremity and sports work is done at this facility.
Clinic Experience: The clinical facilities are second to none in the country. The OSMI is one of the nicest buildings on the UF campus and is utilized by many campus organizations for fundraisers and events. The first floor houses MRI, CT, and plain-film x-ray capabilities along with a very large PT facility that is the nicest I have seen. The second floor houses clinical space and further x-ray capabilities along with casting rooms and a hand therapy center. The only down-side, if it is one, is that the facility is approximately 5-10 minutes across campus from the main teaching hospital.
Research Opportunities: Research is there if you want it. There are always a large quantity of studies going on, particularly in oncology, if you want to get involved. There is opportunity for both bench and clinical research. The motion analysis lab is also an interesting and up-and-coming research opportunity for residents. There is an entire section of the website devoted to the lab if you want to know more about it.
Residents: The advantage of a medium-sized program (4 per year now) is that there is good cohesiveness amongst the residents. You won't be able to name a bad guy (or gal) in the group. They work hard and enjoy going out and doing things together on the weekends. This is definitely a selling point of the program.
Lifestyle: The lifestyle is pretty good compared to some other Orthopedic programs. With the lack of heavy trauma in the chief years, there is plenty of time to spend with family, go out, or do whatever you want to do with your time. With the advent of night float, call is approximately one 24-hour weekend shift a month (except the night float/day float trauma guys) or one at-home call shift every week to week-and-a-half for the chief class. Many nights the chief does not have to come in (better than half).
Location/Housing: The cost of living is cheaper than many parts of Florida, and typical for much of the South. The location is a typical college town. There are approximately 100,000 people in Gainesville. The city is attempting to pattern itself after a young Austin with focus on arts and entertainment. With the college crowd comes a young atmosphere to the city. There is outstanding college athletics to watch, and the tickets are pretty easy to get.
Limitations: The downsides to the program probably are the growing pains in adjusting to becoming a level I trauma center and creating a night float system and having only one dedicated joint reconstruction rotation and one sports rotation (both come as a chief). The growing pains are minor, but there. This will be worked out within the next year. The joint reconstruction and sports experience will likely improve as the program increases in size, but when there were only 3 residents per year, there were only so many rotations to go around. You still receive 3-4 months of training as a chief in each area.
Overall Rotation Experience/Conclusion: The program has a large monetary infusion, with several new buildings, outstanding faculty, and great residents. They are poised to move into a new hospital tower with new trauma ER in the next year to year-and-a-half. There are plenty of physician extenders to lessen the work, and the operative experience is varied and provides an outstanding basis for private practice. The lifestyle is pretty good and the beach is only 1 1/2 hours away in either direction. There are 3 major airports within a 2 hour drive and the city has one smaller airport that will get you out of town as well if you need to fly. This is a great program and worth a look.
Qualification
I am a current resident of this program.
Date of Rotation: 7/2007-6/2012
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 29 August 2007 )
 
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