Rotations

The orthopaedic trauma service is run at our Level-1 Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital trauma hospital. Here, we see and treat the majority of blunt, penetrative and high speed trauma in central New Jersey. All residents and attendings participate in the management of urgent and emergent traumatic cases on a daily basis. In addition, with fellowship trained traumatologists residents are frequently exposed to large acetabular and pelvic fracture surgeries as early as the PGY-2 year.

The main trauma service at RWJUH consists of a senior resident, a PGY-3, and an intern. Rotating on the trauma/general orthopaedic service gives the resident experience in long bone stabilization, pelvic trauma, and care of the multiply injured patient.

In addition, a resident-run & attending-supervised trauma clinic is held every Thursday afternoon at RWJUH.

The pediatric orthopaedic service affords the resident an opportunity to participate in operative care for children with scoliosis, cerebral palsy, injuries related to trauma and sports as well as other surgical problems at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. Robert Wood Johnson is becoming a referral center for the entire state with the opening of the Children's Specialised hospital, enhancing the surgical experience for orthopaedic residents. The Pediatric Orthopaedic service consists of a three month experience at the PGY-4 and a PGY-2 level. Operative experience begins early at the PGY-2 level, with four operative days a week, assisting in scoliosis/neuromuscular surgeries. More autonomy is reserved for the PGY-4 level, where advanced pediatric surgical techniques are taught by the Attending staff.

Central to the residents experience is the RWJ Scoliosis program that hosts a resident run pediatric orthopaedic clinic held every Tuesday afternoon. This clinic provides orthopaedic care for all children in central New Jersey and is supervised by two pediatric orthopaedic attendings.

In addition, while on the service, residents are allotted time to travel to the pediatric orthopaedic physicians’ private office in the afternoon on a bi-weekly schedule. This opportunity gives the residents an additional experience in the management of nonoperative orthopaedic problems. Furthermore, an extensive pediatric orthopaedic didactic program, covering a broad range of topics, is presented throughout the resident’s rotation.

Second year and fourth year residents complete a four-month rotation in the hand service at Saint Peter’s University Hospital and UCAS, a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery facility, which are both located 5 blocks from RWJUH. Residents are involved in the operative and non-operative management of patients with various disorders of the hand, ranging from the surgical management of arthritis, rheumatologic diseases, minor hand trauma and microsurgery. Residents on the hand rotation also spend at least one day a week in the office to provide assistance to attendings during their office hours and promote continuity of care of surgical patients.

Residents participate in a Sports Medicine rotation during the PGY-3 & PGY-5 year of the orthopaedic surgery residency program. The rotation is mainly held at the outpatient UCAS center where residents perform a large number of arthroscopic and open surgical cases. In addition, CARES has a surgical skills lab, where orthopaedic residents can operate on cadavers to perfect arthroscopic techniques. A functional arthroscopy lab is supervised by the sports clinical faculty throughout the year and provides an introduction to arthroscopic technique to junior residents and allows senior residents to apply advanced arthroscopic techniques in a laboratory setting.

In addition, residents assist attending staff with office hours in a local sports center on a weekly basis. Sports medicine clinics have been operational since 1976 at both Princeton University and Rutgers University. During the PGY-4 year, residents assist in the care of the Rutgers and Princeton athletic teams. The residents take part in pre-season evaluation of athletes, provide game-time care for the players, and assess and treat injuries throughout the respective season. This experience gives the resident an extensive exposure to all aspects of athletic injury. In the fall, chief residents cover local high school home football games.

The Orthopaedic spine service is run primarily at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH). During the PGY 2 and PGY 4 years, residents assist in a multitude of outpatient and traumatic spine surgical cases for 3 months. Being at a large level one trauma center, RWJ recieves the majority of multiply injured patients from Central New Jersey. Spine trauma call is shared with the Neurosurgical service on a alternate week schedule.

The adult reconstruction service is composed of a chief resident and a PGY-3. On this service, residents provide operative assistance for primary hip, shoulder and knee replacements, as well as more complex revision cases. The residents provide post operative care for these patients as well. The residents also spend time in the attending’s office in order to understand preoperative assessment and long term follow up of patients.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest private cancer center. For 6 weeks during the PGY-4 year, residents will live in NYC and learn musculoskeletal orthopaedics from some of the specialty's leading figures.