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Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program

College

  • Center City Campus
  • Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Degree Earned

  • Residency

Program Length

5 Years

Program Type

  • On Campus

Requirements

Applicant Information

Resident Salary & Benefits

Leadership

James J. Purtill, MD
Residency Program Director

Letter From the Program Director

For Program Information

Kelly Quici
Program Administrator

925 Chestnut Street
5th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Sidney Kimmel Medical College Alumni
Support Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Didactics

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University has developed a balanced program of didactics to foster and encourage resident education.

In addition to the below conferences, each subspecialty department and each rotation location have their own didactics, including lectures, journal clubs, and skills sessions.

Weekly Conference

Weekly conference takes place Friday mornings from 6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. All residents are excused from clinical duties and required to be present in-person during this protected educational time. The three hours include an attending-led trauma lecture, a grand rounds lecture, and two resident-led attending-supervised lectures on boards-relevant topics. Topics are covered on a two-year cycle and all conferences are interactive.

Fracture Conference

Fracture conference is held weekly on Thursday mornings. Residents and attendings from all program sites are invited to present operative fracture cases from the prior week. This is an informal, Socratic style-conference, with residents and attendings discussing an assortment of fractures – from the common to the rare – in detail. Specific points of discussion include interpreting imaging, clinical work-up, nonoperative and operative treatment strategies, surgical difficulties and pearls, and the classical and current literature.

Summer School

Each summer for six weeks, Friday morning didactics are geared toward providing new interns and junior residents with an overview of orthopaedic basics. Topics range from common consults, to arthrocentesis, to managing patients in the perioperative period, and include hands-on workshops on Halo placement, splinting and casting, traction pin placement, and suturing.

Orthopaedic Anatomy

Each summer the residency program provides cadavers exclusively for resident use. Residents are assigned to subspecialty groups and perform cadaveric prosections. Each Monday night for two months, residents and faculty preceptors gather to review surgical anatomy and operative approaches.

Bioskills

Each fall and winter, the orthopedic subspecialty departments host fresh frozen cadaver “bioskills” sessions for the residents. Faculty and residents gather to review and practice procedures on fresh frozen cadavers, using actual implants and surgical equipment. This includes everything from spinal instrumentation and total hip and knee arthroplasty to shoulder arthroscopy, reconstructive procedures of the foot and ankle, and fracture fixation.

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds include presentations given Friday mornings by program faculty and visiting professors. The department hosts 8-9 visiting professors each year. These include prominent orthopaedic surgeons from throughout the country and the world, providing the latest insights on topics relevant to their subspecialties. In addition, each chief resident gives Grand Rounds in the spring of PGY-5 year.

Journal Club

Once a month on Thursday night, residents and attendings gather together informally to discuss recently published articles from leading orthopedic journals. Junior residents are responsible for concisely presenting and critiquing articles, followed by larger group discussion. Journal Club is hosted by one of the attendings, usually at his/her residence. Food and refreshments are provided. Faculty and residents find Journal Club an excellent opportunity to debate current orthopaedic topics outside the hospital.

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