Orthopedic Surgery Residency Rotations | NYU Langone Health

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Orthopedic Surgery Residency Orthopedic Surgery Residency Rotations

Orthopedic Surgery Residency Rotations

Residents in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery participate in clinical rotations for a 60-month period. Your rotations take place in several locations, including NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, NYU Langone Orthopedic Center, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone, as well as the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.

We provide a structured learning environment that gives residents both inpatient and outpatient experiences in all of the major subspecialty areas of orthopedic surgery.

Clinical Rotation in Adult Reconstructive Surgery

Rotations in adult reconstructive surgery are the largest component of the 60-month experience. These take place at Tisch Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, and the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System during the second, third, fourth, and fifth years of residency training. In many cases, junior residents work under the supervision of a fourth- or fifth-year resident or an arthroplasty fellow.

As you progress through the rotations, you assume increasing responsibilities and gain experience with a wide variety of procedures, including surgery to treat arthritis and primary and revision total joint replacement.

You also gain extensive experience caring for patients in various outpatient clinics and through interactions with faculty during private office hours.

During your second through fifth years, you gain further experience in adult reconstructive surgery on rotations at NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center under the guidance of our faculty. Residents work closely with the faculty to manage the service.

Clinical Rotation in Foot and Ankle Surgery

The goal of the foot and ankle surgery rotation is for residents to become knowledgeable in the management and treatment of both common and complex foot and ankle disorders. Rotations occur during the second and fourth years of residency and include a weekly conference as part of the curriculum.

Rotations take place at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, Tisch Hospital, and the Foot and Ankle Center at the Joan H. and Preston Robert Tisch Center at Essex Crossing. Residents gain significant outpatient management experience of foot and ankle disorders by attending various clinics, taking care of patients at the Diabetic Foot and Ankle Center, and interacting with the teaching faculty in their private offices.

Clinical Rotation in Hand Surgery

Residents complete a one-month rotation in hand surgery in the second year and a two-month rotation in the third year of the residency. During these rotations, you are actively involved in both operative and nonoperative treatment of patients. The experience covers a variety of hand and wrist disorders and is supervised by the faculty and five clinical fellows. There is also an opportunity for a fifth-year selective in hand surgery for interested residents.

Two outpatient clinics are held weekly at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital. Additional experience is gained by working with faculty during office hours. The weekly Hand Conference provides residents with further didactic experience.

Clinical Rotation in Orthopedic Oncology

Our Division of Orthopedic Oncology trains residents at all levels across NYU Langone locations through a comprehensive didactic curriculum. Residents spend one month of the second year and two months of the fourth year training on the orthopedic oncology service. During this time, you participate in the clinical evaluation and operative care of pediatric and adult patients with bone and soft tissue tumors, as well as metastatic disease. Weekly teaching conferences are held at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center.

You also participate in a biweekly multidisciplinary sarcoma conference where recent cases are discussed in roundtable fashion with faculty from adult and pediatric oncology, radiology, pathology, and radiation oncology.

Clinical Rotation in Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery

Residents participate in our pediatric orthopedic surgery service, which takes place at the Center for Children, part of Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, during the second, third, fourth, and fifth years of the residency program. You are closely supervised by members of the pediatric orthopedic faculty.

Two general and two neuromuscular clinics are the focus of the outpatient experience, including clinics in cerebral palsy and spina bifida. In your second year of training, your focus is on outpatient care, with the primary operative role of surgical assistant. During the third, fourth, and fifth years of the program, your operative experience increases significantly with a graduated level of autonomy.

Although residents work closely with the pediatric orthopedic staff to provide comprehensive care at all of the various clinical sites, the service is an important component of the Bellevue and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center rotations. At these locations, emphasis is placed on evaluations in the newborn nursery and the neonatal intensive care unit.

Clinical Rotation in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery

Residents complete a rotation in shoulder and elbow surgery during the third year of the residency program. This rotation includes weekly conferences. Patient care is coordinated with the faculty and the shoulder and elbow fellow.

Rotations take place at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, NYU Langone Orthopedic Center, and NYU Langone Outpatient Surgery Center. During this rotation, you gain significant outpatient management experience of shoulder and elbow disorders by attending the weekly shoulder and elbow clinic and by interacting with the teaching faculty in their private offices.

Clinical Rotation in Spine Surgery

During the spine surgery rotation, you learn the management of both adult and pediatric spinal disorders. Rotations occur during the second and fourth years of the residency program and include twice-weekly spine conferences as part of the curriculum.

The rotations take place at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, Tisch Hospital, and Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital. Additionally, you gain significant outpatient management experience of spinal disorders by attending various spine clinics and interacting with the teaching faculty in their private offices.

The operative experience increases significantly after the second-year rotation. Fourth-year residents participate in a large volume and variety of surgical cases that range from microdiscectomies to anterior and posterior stabilizations and cervical cases. In the fourth year, you work closely with five spine fellows in the management of the service.

Clinical Rotation in Sports Medicine

Residents participate in a sports medicine rotation during the second, third, and fifth years of the orthopedic surgery residency. The rotation, based at NYU Langone Orthopedic Center and NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, provides the opportunity to participate in a large number of arthroscopic and open surgical procedures in the sports medicine field, including ligament reconstructions, meniscus surgery, cartilage transplantation, and joint-preserving osteotomies.

In addition to this operative experience, rotating residents participate in weekly outpatient clinics and assist the attending staff with office hours.

An exposure to community-based sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery takes place on general orthopedic services at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System and NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn. At these locations, you have the opportunity to take a leading role in the care of young athletes and patients with soft tissue injuries.

Clinical Rotation in Trauma and Fracture Surgery

Surgeons from the department’s Division of Trauma and Fracture Surgery direct the trauma services at New York City’s three busiest Level 1 Trauma Centers: NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, Bellevue, and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. Residents train in orthopedic trauma and fractures at these sites, in addition to seeing “cold trauma” cases at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital and Tisch Hospital. Fellowship-trained orthopedic traumatologists play a central role in the residency program as residents acquire new trauma and fracture training during each year of their residency.

All rotations are staffed by multiple residents:

  • Bellevue: two fifth-year residents, two fourth-year residents, three third-year residents, and two first-year residents
  • Jamaica Hospital Medical Center: two fifth-year residents, two third-year residents, and one second-year resident
  • NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn: two fourth-year residents and two third-year residents
  • NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital: one fifth-year resident, one fourth-year resident, one third-year resident, and two second-year residents
  • Tisch Hospital: one fourth-year resident and two second-year residents

Residents provide primary coverage of the emergency room or urgent care center at all clinical sites and gain experience in the evaluation and treatment of urgent and emergent orthopedic problems.

Clinical responsibilities increase throughout training, resulting in fifth-year residents being responsible for all aspects of the clinical care provided on the trauma and fracture service, reporting directly to the chief of the service. Fifth-year residents also prepare the weekly case conferences.