The Orthopaedic Residency Program at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Affiliated Hospitals is a five-year program. Our subspecialty coverage is complete and comprehensive. The mix of facilities provides a diversity of patients, environments, and pathology, which we feel is necessary for a well-rounded surgical education. Our research facility includes molecular, biomechanical, and biochemical laboratories and is an integral part of the residents' experience. More importantly, we emphasize the fundamentals of thinking and planning, as well as performing orthopaedic surgery. It is our goal to graduate well rounded, well-read, skillful surgeons who have the necessary skills and experience to choose either academic or private practices. This, as all residency programs, will undergo change over time, but our commitment to train humane, broadminded and competent orthopaedic surgeons will not.

Overview:

Our Residents have 2 month long rotations 6 times per year. We have dedicated 3-hour educational sessions every  Thursday morning and follow a reading schedule and year-long OrthoBullets study plan. In addition, journal club is held once per month during the Thursday dedicated educational session as well as once per month during respective rotations. Additionally, educational conferences and small group discussions are held weekly on respective services described below. Our Residents supplement their education by attending national training conferences such as the AO Basic course, AANA arthroscopy course, Miller Review Course, and the AAOS Annual Meeting.

Didactics:

Orthopaedic Trauma Conference
Every weekday morning from 6:45am-7:30am residents meet with the on-call attendings to present patients and review imaging from consults during the previous day.

Orthopaedic Oncology – Tumor Conference
A multidisciplinary tumor conference, consisting of musculoskeletal radiologists, pathologists, and orthopaedic oncologists is held every Thursday from 3:30 -4:30pm, during which patients’ history, imaging studies, and pathology slides are reviewed and discussed, and complex treatment regimens are planned.

Pediatric Orthopaedic Conference
Every Tuesday and Wednesday, the pediatric team and rotating students, as well as the spine/peds/call resident will gather over breakfast for an informal, but in-depth discussion of a pediatric orthopaedic topic of choice based on reading from Lovell & Winter Pediatric Orthopaedic Textbook.

Hand Orthopaedic Conferences
On Mondays the Hand team meets for Journal Club with the hand fellow to review required journals. On Wednesdays they gather for Pre-op/Post-op Conference. And every  Thursday Afternoon there is a discussion of hand anatomy with Junior Resident

Spine Orthopaedic Conferences
The spine team meets Mondays to review in-training exam topics from the spine section out of OKU such as Cervical trauma, Thoracolumbar trauma, Cervical Degenerative Disease, Lumbar degenerative disease, Lumbar spondylolisthesis, Spine Infections. In addition, Journal Club is held Fridays.

Training Sites:

University Hospital

As the NJ State Trauma Center, UH provides the principal training in management of multiply-injured patients and major orthopaedic trauma. All orthopaedic subspecialties are amply represented as well.   Residents spend time on the Orthopaedic Trauma, Spine, Oncology, Hand, Foot and Ankle, Pediatrics, Adult Reconstruction, and Sports services.  During PGY-1 thru PGY-5 years, residents will spend time on rotations occurring at University Hospital.

Overlook Hospital

During the PGY-2 and PGY-3 years, residents rotate at Overlook Hospital, which is a community based Orthopaedic Practice.  The residents work with both members of the full time faculty at New Jersey Medical School, as well as a number of part time-teaching faculty whom have offices and/or operate at Overlook Hospital.  Residents gain early operative experience in general community orthopaedic trauma as well has exposure to foot and ankle, spine, hand, sports, and adult reconstruction. 

Hackensack University Hospital

During the PGY-4 and PGY-5 years, residents rotate at Hackensack University Hospital.  Residents on this rotation gain clinical experiences in adult reconstruction, sports medicine/arthroscopy, shoulder arthroplasty, and spine.  It also provides the opportunity for residents to gain experience in other subspecialties they may be interested in.

Mount Sinai Beth Israel

During the PGY-5 year, residents rotate at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel Medical Center.  Residents gain a highly focused experience with joint replacement and adult reconstruction.  They are under the supervision of Dr. David Drucker, a fellowship-trained joint replacement surgeon.

Newark Beth Israel Medical Center

During the PGY-1 and PGY-3 years residents rotate at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.   The medical center provides further exposure to Orthopaedics in a community based setting.  Residents will gain experience in general orthopaedics as well as pediatrics, sports medicine, adult reconstruction and hand surgery.

Post-Residency:

Over the past 15 years, our graduates have achieved 100% pass rate on the written boards. The diversity of our training sites gives our residents exposure to all orthopaedic subspecialties in varied settings from a major trauma center in an urban setting to a private physician's office in suburbia.

Our 2017 graduates joined the following fellowships:

Sevag Bastian
Shoulder and Elbow
Kerlan – Jobe LA, Ca

Jesus Juarez
Foot and Ankle
Houston Texas

Jacob Didesch
Hand
Allegheny

Peter Gibson
Hand
San Antonio Texas

John Hwang
Trauma
Ortho Carolinas

Spencer Hauser
Spine
Duke 

Our 2016 graduates joined the following fellowships:

Daniel Choi
Spine
Harvard Beth Israel Deaconess

William Munoz
Spine
University of Virginia

Vishnu Potini
Sports
Detroit Medical Center

Kenneth Gerzeberg
Foot and Ankle
Mount Sinai, NY

Kimberly Tucker
Sports
Univeristy of Pennsylvania

Rosemary Yi
Hand
SUNY Upstate

Our 2015 graduates joined the following fellowships:

Mina Abdelshahed
Shoulder and Elbow
NYU Hospital of Joint Diseases

Christopher Collins
Pediatrics
Orlando Health 

Heather Kong
Pediatrics
Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Kenneth Koury
Trauma
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey 

Jake Ni
Sports Medicine
Southern California Orthopaedic Institute in LA

Neel Shah
Spine Surgery
New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA

Recent graduates have obtained fellowships at:

Baylor 
Case Western Reserve University
Columbia University
Duke University
Emory
Florida Orthopaedic Institute
Harborview Medical Center
Harvard 
Hospital for Joint Diseases 
Hospital for Special Surgery
Johns Hopkins
Kaiser Permanente 
Kerlan-Jobe 
Lenox Hill Hospital
Mt. Sinai Hospital 
New England Baptist Hospital
Ochsner Clinic
Orlando Health
Rush-Presbyterian 
San Diego Center for Spinal Disorder 
Southern California Orthopaedic Institute in LA
Syracuse 
Texas Medical Center 
The Cleveland Clinic 
Thomas Jefferson
UCLA
Union Memorial
University of Chicago
University of Massachusetts Medical School 
University of Pennsylvania 
University of Pittsburgh 
University of Sydney
Washington University

How to Apply:

The Rutgers-NJMS orthopedic surgery residency program participates in the NRMP. In order to apply, the following information must be provided by November 1, 2017. Completed ERAS application including 3 letters of recommendation, with at least one coming from a clinical Orthopaedist.

Foreign graduates must have either US citizenship, a green card or ECFMG J1 visa sponsorship.

Externships/Acting Internships:

The orthopedic department welcomes 4th year medical students from United Stated medical schools to participate in a 4 week rotation.  Interested students can apply through the VSAS application.

While on the rotation, it is expected that the medical student become an integral part of the orthopedic team, and experience what it is like to be an orthopedic resident at a large Level I trauma center.  Students will spend a majority of their time in the operating room, but will also gain exposure in the clinic and call settings.  As part of the rotation, you will spend one week on the following services: 

1. trauma
2. oncology
3. pediatrics
4. hand/sports/foot and ankle