Residency Program
PEDIATRIC ORTHOPAEDICS
Pediatric Orthopaedics is jointly taught between Primary Children's Medical Center and the Shriners Hospital for Children. Interns, PGY-2 and PGY-5 residents rotate through Primary Children's and Shriners Hospital for a total of 6 months of exposure. Call is shared between the two hospitals to access the PCMC Level 1 pediatric trauma experience. Combined, this is an active pediatric service of 10 faculty, which also offers weekly conferences that have been extremely popular with residents. The pediatric service is a comprehensive exposure to all areas of pediatric orthopaedics.
SPINE SERVICE
Residents spend a total of 20 weeks on the Spine Service learning detailed anatomy of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine, the spinal cord, and the nervous system. They also learn how to clear the cervical spine in trauma patients, learn how to manage acute spinal cord injured patients, and learn a system for evaluating and managing back pain, neck pain and complex deformity. PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents rotate through the spine service. Drs. Brodke, Daubs, and Patel are the attendings on this service.
SPORTS MEDICINE SERVICE
Residents receive extensive training in the care of acute and chronic sports injuries, and are involved with the care of the University of Utah Athletic teams. The Sports Medicine Service is based at the UUOC with Drs. Robert Burks, Patrick Gries, Robert Z. Tashjian and Stephen Aoki. Arthroscopic surgery techniques are emphasized, but there is also ample instruction on the nonsurgical care of sports injuries. Residents participate in a monthly journal club and related sports medicine conferences. Residents spend one month on service as interns and 10 weeks both as a PGY-2 and PGY-3 resident on the University Sports Medicine Service. PGY-5 residents spend 10 weeks with Dr. Hugh West in an intensive Sports Medicine experience in the community.
TRAUMA SERVICE
The Orthopaedic trauma service at the University of Utah takes advantage of our status as a Level-1 trauma center and regional referral center. Drs. Horwitz, Higgins and Kubiak are the primary surgeons on the service. Most attendings and fellows also take call and admit patients with trauma. The broad trauma experience includes injuries ranging from low energy ankle and hip fractures to complex, high-energy pelvic, acetabular and spine fractures. A close proximity to high performance outdoor recreation provides a broad range of complex injuries in young athletic individuals and a central location near major interstates provides an abundance of high-speed blunt trauma. The residents are expected to actively participate in the pre-operative planning for all fracture cases and they are actively involved in the operative/nonoperative treatment of these patients. There are weekly conferences devoted to the discussion and evaluation of specific fracture and trauma topics. The entire orthopaedic staff remains continuously available for individual discussion and interaction. There are weekly trauma conferences for all University based residents and a separate trauma lecture series for all residents. Residents rotate as interns, PGY-2, PGY-4 and PGY-5 residents.
FOOT SERVICE
The Foot and Ankle Service at the University Hospital focuses on a broad spectrum of pathologic conditions. Areas covered in the educational process include reconstruction for posterior tibial tendon dysfunction, arthrodesis techniques for complex hindfoot deformities, operative and nonoperative treatment of rheumatologic conditions, acute reconstruction for complex fractures including pilon fractures, calcaneus fractures and complex midfoot fracture/dislocations, and diagnosis and treatment for diabetic foot conditions. The care and treatment of patients with complex neuromuscular disorders is covered on this service including adults with cavovarus foot deformities and adult patients with deformities after neuromuscular conditions of childhood. Drs. Saltzman, Beals and Nickish are the attendings on this service, which has a PGY-2 and PGY-4 level resident on the service.
TUMOR SERVICE
PGY-3 residents spend 10 weeks on the tumor service with Dr. Lor Randall. The service is focused on the diagnosis and treatment of primary and metastatic musculoskeletal malignancies. The resident is responsible for active participation in the pre, intra and postop care of these patients.
ADULT RECONSTRUCTION SERVICE
Residents receive extensive training in the care of adult reconstruction disorders of the hip and knee. The Adult Reconstruction Service is based at the University of Utah Medical Center as well as the UU Orthopaedic Center with Dr. Christopher L. Peters, Dr Aaron A. Hofmann, and Dr Harold K. Dunn. Hip and Knee arthroplasty are emphasized, but there is also ample instruction on the treatment of young adults with hip dyplasia and femoro-acetabular impingement with a variety of osteotomy procedures for hip preservation. There is extensive exposure to complex arthroplasty cases including primary and revision cases. Residents work in a team with adult reconstruction fellows, medical students and physician assistants. Residents and fellows participate in journal club and weekly adult reconstruction indications conference reviewing preoperative and postoperative cases. Residents spend 10 weeks on service as PGY-3 residents and 10 more weeks as PGY-5 residents.
Dr. Aaron Hofmann is the Orthopaedic Chief at the VAMC with other faculty and fellows also serving as attendings. A PGY-4 and a PGY-5 resident are assigned to the VAMC for a 10-week period. The orthopaedic service at the Veteran's Hospital sees a wide variety of adult orthopedic problems. Our main surgical and clinical focus is adult reconstruction and sports medicine. Housestaff enjoy a good deal of autonomy while at the VAMC, which provides an excellent opportunity for residents to develop and sharpen their clinical and surgical skills. VAMC residents have a conference with Dr. Hofmann every Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., to discuss both pre- and post-op cases, as well as the more difficult cases seen in clinic. Patients with difficult orthopaedic conditions are sometimes seen during their time for group problem solving.
HAND SERVICE
The Hand Service covers conditions from the hand extending proximally to the mid-shaft of the humerus, along with all soft tissue and microvascular problems. Residents rotate on the Hand Service in the PGY 3 and PGY 4 years, for 10 weeks at a time. There are also two Hand Fellows on service, along with four attendings. The Hand Service is responsible for adult and pediatric patients at all of our primary and affiliated hospitals. Elective cases are plentiful and varied, covering both basic and unusual conditions. Hand Call is split with Plastic Surgery, and the residents get ample exposure to care of bony, soft tissue, and miscrovascular injuries.
NIGHTFLOAT
To comply with the 80-hour workweek regulations, a night float system for University based rotations was instituted in 2004 and has been well received. PGY-2 residents spend 10 weeks on a shift of 5pm to 7am covering patient calls and ER calls. Residents participate in any nighttime trauma cases as well.
