Orthopaedic Residencies

Overview

Cleveland Clinic’s orthopaedic residency program consists of an American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery approved rotating surgical internship year, an optional research year and four years of clinical training in orthopaedic surgery.

Each member of our department is committed to providing the best possible graduate training in orthopaedic surgery.

Through our large clinical staff, an abundance of clinical material is available. A dedicated research staff is available through the Orthopaedic Research Center. Both basic science and clinical research opportunities are available for residents.

Orthopaedic surgery is a dynamic specialty and Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is leading the way with strong programs in all subspecialty areas.

We believe that our orthopaedic residency program is among the best in the world and that it will provide you with the skills to become one of tomorrow’s leaders in Orthopaedics.

Congratulations to our chief class for their recent match results!

2024

• Morgan Bertsch, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Hand Surgery)
• Connor Hoban, MD, Cleveland Clinic (Sports Medicine)
• Emily Hu, MD, Cleveland Clinic (Spine Surgery)
• Joseph Scollan, MD, OrthoCarolina (Hand Surgery)
• Assem Sultan, MD, Previously completed Cleveland Clinic Spine Surgery Fellowship 
• Jose Vega, MD, Rush University Medical Center (Sports Medicine)

2023

• Michael Erossy, MD - New England Baptist Hospital (Adult Reconstructive Surgery)
• Anton Khlopas, MD - University of Florida-Gainesville (Hand Surgery)
• Anas Minkara, MD - Harvard University (Spine Surgery)
• Prashant Rajan, MD - Emory University (Spine Surgery)
• Andrew Swiergosz, MD - University of Louisville (Adult Reconstructive Surgery)
• William Zuke, MD - Washington University Orthopedics (Adult Reconstructive Surgery)

2022

• Morad Chughtai, MD - Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery - University of Florida COM/Shands Hospital
• Jessica Churchill, MD - Shoulder & Elbow Surgery - Cleveland Clinic
• Sania Mahmood, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Emory University
• Erin Ohliger, MD - Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery - Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University
• Alexander Roth, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Cleveland Clinic
• Nicholas Scarcella, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Duke University Medical Center

2021

• Nicholas Arnold, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Beaumont Health-Royal Oak Program
• Bilal Mahmood, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - University of Utah 
• Sameer Oak, MD - Orthopaedic Sports Medicine - University of Michigan
• Deepak Ramanathan, MD - Foot & Ankle Surgery - Duke University Medical Center
• Prem Ramkumar, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Brigham & Women's Hospital
• Inyang Udo-inyang, MD - Spine Surgery - Norton Leatherman-Louisville KY 

2020

• Ryan Berger, MD - Spine Surgery - OrthoCarolina
• Iyooh Davidson, MD - Spine Surgery - Emory University
• Haariss Ilyas, MD - Spine Surgery - Cleveland Clinic
• Marcelo Siqueira, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University
• Peter Surace, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Duke University
• Erica Umpierrez, MD - Hand & Upper Extremity - Indiana Hand to Shoulder Center

2019

• Anthony Egger, MD - Pediatric Orthopaedics - Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite
• Megan Flynn MD - Sports Medicine - American Sports Medicine Institute-Birmingham
• Joshua Lawrenz, MD - Musculoskeletal Oncology - Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Jonas Reid, MD - Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery - University of Chicago
• Anas Saleh, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
• Aaron Taylor, MD - Orthopaedic Trauma - University of Rochester Medical Center
• M. Derek Vaughn, MD - Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery - Vanderbilt University Medical Center

2018

• Kevin Bigart, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Rush University Medical Center, Chicago
• David Brigati, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - University of Texas at Austin
• Reid Chambers, DO - Pediatric Orthopaedics and Scoliosis Surgery - Cleveland Clinic
• Jason Ho, MD - Shoulder Surgery - Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia
• Jennifer Peterson, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - Cleveland Clinic
• Rachel Randall, MD - Pediatric Orthopaedics - Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus
• Timothy Wagner, MD - Adult Reconstructive Surgery - New England Baptist, Boston

Residents

Class of 2029 - Congratulations to Our Newly Matched Residents

 

Lori Jia
University of Pennsylvania

 

Brendan Lilley
Quinnipiac University

 

Precious Oyem
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

 

Samantha Panich
Temple University

 

Samuel Polinsky
University of California-San Diego

 

Anthony Videckis
Georgetown University

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PGY-1 Residents

 

 

Peter Delaney MD

• Hometown: Shaker Heights, OH
• Undergraduate Education: Washington University, St. Louis
• Medical School: University of Michigan Medical School
• Interests: Global Surgery, Innovation, Travel, Cooking, Soccer, Tennis, Pickleball, Jiu Jitsu

 

Benjamin Gaal MD

• Hometown: Sheffield Lake, Ohio 
• Undergraduate Education: Johns Hopkins University
• Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
• Interests: Travel, Weightlifting, Football, Cleveland sports & restaurant scene, Shows & movies, Time with family and friends

 

Theodore Rudic MD

• Hometown: Greendale, WI
• Undergraduate Education: Tulane University
• Medical School: University of Virginia
• Interests: Fishing, Martial Arts, Weightlifting, Golf, Archery, Cooking, Aquaria and Gardening

 

Tariq Said MD

• Hometown: St. Louis, MO
• Undergraduate Education: University of Missouri - Kansas City
• Medical School: University of Missouri - Kansas City
• Interests: Weightlifting, Snowboarding, Reading, Travelling, Movies, and Cooking

 

Karrington Seals MD

• Hometown: Farmington Hills, MI
• Undergraduate Education: Wayne State University (Detroit, MI)
• Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
• Interests: Weightlifting/going to the gym, Watching basketball (especially the playoffs). Listening to audiobooks, Hairstyling, Cooking 

 

Yuta Umeda MD

• Hometown: Tokyo, Japan
• Undergraduate Education: University of Pittsburgh
• Medical School: University of Cincinnati
• Interests: Soccer, Futsal, Card Games, Searching for the best street tacos

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PGY-2 Residents

Ahmed Emara MD

• Hometown: Cairo, EG
• Undergraduate Education: Ain Shams University
• Medical School: Ain Shams University Faculty of Medicine
• Interests: Swimming, Blacksmithing, Humanitarian relief, Reading, Research, and Weightlifting

 

Lauren Grobaty MD

• Hometown: Fullerton, CA
• Undergraduate Education: Harvard College
• Medical School: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
• Interests: Dance, Spinning, Fitness, Reading/Literature, Movies, Trying new restaurants

 

Rebecca Haley MD

• Hometown: Newton, MA 
• Undergraduate Education: Duke University
• Medical School: Emory University School of Medicine
• Interests: Long distance running, Ice hockey, Soccer, Hiking, Baking

 

Cole Johnson MD

• Hometown: Hudson OH 
• Undergraduate Education: University of Notre Dame
• Medical School: University of North Carolina School of Medicine
• Interests: Spending time with my wife and kids, Cleveland sports, baseball, skiing, cooking, crossword puzzles

 

Dimitri Mabarak MD

• Hometown: Boston, MA
• Undergraduate Education: Boston University
• Medical School: Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
• Interests: Boston sports, Tennis, Travel, Hiking, Cooking homemade pasta

 

Matthew Zielinski MD MS

• Hometown: Fishers, IN
• Undergraduate Education: College of the Holy Cross
• Graduate Education: Case Western Reserve University
• Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
• Interests: Hiking, Travel, Fly fishing, Ice hockey

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PGY-3 Residents

 

Omolola (Lola) Fakunle MD

• Hometown: Louisville, KY
• Undergraduate Education: Centre College
• Medical School: Emory University School of Medicine
• Interests: Cooking, Interior Design, Vintage clothing, Hiking

Collin LaPorte MD

• Hometown: Missoula, MT
• Undergraduate Education: Montana State University
• Medical School: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine
• Interests: Snow Skiing, Water Skiing, Rugby, Trail running, Hunting, Sporting Clays shooting 

Mustafa Mahmood MD

• Hometown: Smithton, IL
• Undergraduate Education: St. Louis University
• Medical School: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
• Interests: St. Louis Cardinals & Blues fan, Grilling, Hiking, MLB analytics, Travel

Conner Paez MD

• Hometown: Solon, OH
• Undergraduate Education: University of Pennsylvania
• Medical School: University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
• Interests: Travel, music, hiking, camping, running, cycling, horses, farm living

Rui W Soares MD

• Hometown: Miami, FL and Bayonne, NJ
• Undergraduate Education: Boston College
• Medical School: Georgetown University School of Medicine
• Interests: Weightlifting, Sports (Benfica & Real Madrid!), Skiing, Cooking, Traveling, Family, Cleveland Restaurants and Breweries

Jason Teplensky MD

• Hometown: Somers, NY
• Undergraduate Education: Case Western Reserve University
• Medical School: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
• Interests: NY Rangers Hockey, NY Mets Baseball, Ice hockey, Snowboarding, Golf, Singing

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PGY-4 Residents

Hiba Anis, MD

• Hometown: Abu Dhabi, UAE
• Undergraduate Education: Imperial College London
• Medical School: Imperial College School of Medicine
• Interests: Travel, running, TV & movies

 

William Alexander Cantrell, MD

• Hometown: West Bloomfield, MI
• Undergraduate Education: University of Notre Dame
• Medical School: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University
• Interests: Notre Dame Sports, Ice Hockey, Golf, Country Music, Clinical Research

 

Matthew Hadad, MD

• Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
• Undergraduate Education: University of Notre Dame
• Medical School: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Interests: Running, lifting, cooking, soccer, Cleveland sports, Ohio State football

 

Alvaro Ibaseta, MD MS

• Hometown: Gijon, Spain
• Undergraduate Education: University of Bristol
• Graduate Education: Stanford University
• Medical School: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Interests: Spanish soccer (Sporting de Gijon!), basketball, running, trying new restaurants, going to the movies, travel, aviation, aerospace engineering

 

Sarah Poirier, MD

• Hometown: Wausau, WI
• Undergraduate Education: Marquette University
• Medical School: Virginia Commonwealth University
• Interests: Running, hiking, ice hockey, Green Bay Packers, traveling

 

Thomas Pumo, MD

• Hometown: Ottawa, Illinois
• Undergraduate Education: Elmhurst University
• Medical School: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine
• Interests: Weight lifting, Movies, Travel, Spending time with my wife and dog

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PGY-5 Residents

Morgan Bertsch, MD

• Hometown: Ashland, Ohio
• Undergraduate Education: Xavier University
• Medical School: University of Iowa RJ & L Carver College of Medicine
• Interests: Hiking, traveling, music, craft beer, and spending time with my husband and two kids

Connor Hoban, MD

• Hometown: Findlay, Ohio
• Undergraduate Education: Miami University of Ohio
• Medical School: University of Michigan Medical School
• Interests: Tennis, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Exercise Science, Hiking, Family / Dogs

Emily Hu, MD

• Hometown: Summit, NJ
• Undergraduate Education: Harvard University
• Medical School: Case Western Reserve University
• Interests: Lifting weights, oil painting, volleyball

Joseph Scollan, MD

• Hometown: Mahopac, NY
• Undergraduate Education: University of Notre Dame
• Medical School: State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine
• Interests: History, Hemingway, Poetry, Soccer, Notre Dame Football

Assem Sultan, MD

• Hometown: Tanta, Egypt
• Undergraduate Education: Tanta University Faculty of Medicine
• Medical School: Tanta University Faculty of Medicine
• Interests: Soccer, Tennis, Photography, Culinary Arts, Research and Innovations

Jose Vega, MD

• Hometown: Strongsville, Ohio
• Undergraduate Education: Case Western Reserve University
• Medical School: Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
• Interests: Cleveland sports, golf, volleyball, clinical research, medical education

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Call Schedule

The call schedule has been designed to meet the ACGME work hour guidelines. The majority of the call during the 5 years at Main Campus Cleveland Clinic outside rotations may require in-house call responsibilities, including MetroHealth Medical Center, Akron Children’s Hospital. Upper level rotations have home-call responsibilities (Lutheran and Euclid Hospitals).

Euclid and Lutheran Hospital

Euclid call is taken as home-call and split between the PGY-2 and PGY-4 on that rotation. Lutheran home call is split among the PGY-3 residents on Spine, Hand, Sports and Foot and Ankle as well as the PGY-4 at Lutheran.

Spine Call

Spine call is shared between the Neurosurgery and Orthopaedic Surgery services at Main Campus. Spine call is taken in 7-day blocks, with a single staff taking call, typically Monday-Sunday. When Orthopaedic spine staff are on call, the Orthopaedic resident is on primary “Spine call.” In addition to the home-call chief resident, there is a home-call Spine fellow available at all times.

Hand Call

Hand call is shared between the Plastic Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery services at Main Campus. Hand call is taken in 1-3 day blocks, with the home-call chief and a home-call Hand fellow available at all times should the in-house junior resident needs assistance.

Main Campus Call

Main campus Orthopaedic call is split Sunday-Friday into Day Call and Night Call blocks. Weekday Day call is 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sunday Day call is 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and covered by a PGY-3 resident. The frequency of weekday Day call is based on your rotation and seniority and covered by a PGY-1 or PGY-2 resident divided among 5-7 residents. A typical week has no more than 2 day calls per resident.  The night float resident takes call Sunday-Thursday nights, and Friday nights are covered by a PGY-1 with a PGY-4 in-house backup.  Saturday is a 24-hour call split between PGY-2 residents.  Main Campus call is for all Adult and Pediatric Orthopaedic consults. Spine and Hand consults are divided as described above.

Resident Sign-Out

Starts at 6 a.m. - 6:30 a.m. weekday mornings depending on the day.

Typical Call Week

A typical Main Campus orthopaedic call week looks like the following:

Day of Week	Day Call	Night Call
Sunday	PGY-3	PGY-2 (Night Float)
Monday	PGY-1 or 2	PGY-2 (Night Float)
Tuesday	PGY-1 or 2	PGY-2 (Night Float)
Wednesday	PGY-1 or 2	PGY-2 (Night Float)
Thursday	PGY-1 or 2	PGY-2 (Night Float)
Friday	PGY-1 or 2	PGY1 Joints + PGY4
Saturday	PGY-2 (24 hr.)	PGY-2 (24 hr.)

Holiday Block

During the Christmas and New Year’s Holiday weeks, the program has a tradition of additional time off from clinical duties. Typically, all clinic and OR coverage will be handled by half the residents rotating at those hospitals. This allows the other half of residents participating in the Holiday block to have 4-5 consecutive days off.

Rounding

During the week, each resident carries their own “individual” service, responsible for the patients they cared for in the operating room. This rule applies to senior level residents and chief residents as well. Overnight call admissions and consult patients typically are distributed based on their service-specific needs in the morning, with the junior resident on each service typically helping to orchestrate consult patient care. Senior level and chief residents are always available to answer questions and help with co-management of more complex patients that make up part of the junior resident’s service.

Ancillary Staff/Hospitalist Services

To optimize patient care for the more complex patient cases, orthopaedic medicine co-management services are available. There are also PAs and NPs available to assist with daytime floor issues at Main campus and the regional hospitals.  Their expertise is available to help with complex medical issues, pre-operative optimization and post-operative management.

Rotation Schedule

PGY-1 (Intern Year)

6 Months Orthopaedic Surgery

Two months are spent at Metro Health Medical Center, a Level 1 Trauma Center.  The remaining four months are spent at the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus on the adult reconstruction (arthroplasty) service for two months and then one month each on the Foot & Ankle and Upper Extremity services.  You will have significant operative time on both services with occasional call responsibilities.  When you are assigned operative responsibilities, you will have minimal floor responsibilities so your focus can be directed to your surgical experience.

6 Months Non-Orthopaedic Surgery

The remaining six months consist of rotations on the following services:  Neurosurgery Spine (2 months), Surgical ICU, Infectious Disease, Plastic Surgery and General Surgery Trauma at MetroHealth.

PGY-2

2 Months - Pediatric Orthopaedics (Main Campus)

Your PGY-2 pediatrics rotation takes place at Main Campus where you will have the opportunity to work with five pediatric orthopaedic staff. All residents are sure to get an equal share of clinic and OR time. Your exposure to cases will include everything from scoliosis correction, to fracture care, to a wide variety of elective pediatric procedures.

2 Months – Musculoskeletal Oncology (Main Campus)

You will be working with the PGY-4 on the Tumor service under two fellowship-trained Orthopaedic Oncologists.  Your time will be primarily spent at the Main Campus operating and seeing patients in office and inpatient realm.  You will be highly involved in the care of these complex patients on the floor, in the clinic and in the operating room.  You will be exposed to musculoskeletal tumor surgery principles and adult reconstruction techniques.  Every Monday, there is a multidisciplinary tumor conference you are expected to attend that includes pathologists, radiologists, oncologists and radiation oncologists who review complex and interesting cases.

2 Months – Shoulder (Euclid Hospital)

This rotation is essentially a mentorship based model with Dr. Eric Ricchetti, one of our fellowship-trained shoulder surgeons.  Your cases will include shoulder arthroplasty, shoulder arthroscopy, fracture fixation and complex revision surgery.  You will learn the basics of open and arthroscopic shoulder surgery and key physical exam techniques. You will also spend one day each week in the operating room with our Institute Chairman, Dr. Joseph Iannotti.

2 Months - Night Float (Main Campus)

Night float covers main campus call from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sunday through Thursday nights.  Your only responsibilities while on night float are covering floor issues and new consults/admissions during those hours.  Friday and Saturday are free from clinical duties.

2 Months – Orthopaedic Trauma (MetroHealth Medical Center)

You will be part of a team-based system at this Level 1 Trauma Center.   As a PGY-2, you will be on service with several Orthopaedic Traumatologists.  Your cases will include all types of musculoskeletal trauma of both the upper and lower extremities.  You will also be exposed to Spine trauma and have the opportunity to scrub elective reconstruction and sports cases.  Call at Metro is roughly every 5 days.

2 Months – Sports Medicine

Your Sports rotation is an apprenticeship based experience with one of our fellowship- trained Sports staff.  You will be exposed to the full gamut of arthroscopic procedures with primary emphasis on knee arthroscopy and reconstruction as well as shoulder arthroscopy.  You will have the opportunity to participate in hip, ankle and elbow arthroscopic and open procedures.  This rotation occurs at the .  Additionally, there is a weekly Sports didactic conference to support and enhance your Sports experience.

PGY-3

2 Months – Pediatric Orthopaedics (Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Akron)

This is a valuable experience for our PGY-3 residents as they work with 7 pediatric orthopaedic staff at Akron Children’s Hospital where the volume of pediatric trauma is high.  In addition, you have the opportunity to scrub on a wide variety of general pediatric orthopaedic cases.

2 Months - Foot & Ankle

You will work with three foot and ankle surgeons while on this rotation.  Your time will be spent at Euclid, Lutheran, Marymount and Main Campus depending on the staff you are with on any given day.  Weekly schedules are prepared in advance so that junior and senior residents as well as the fellow have exposure to all staff on the service.  You will encounter all types of elective foot and ankle cases to include ankle arthroplasty and fracture cases while on this rotation.

2 Months - Hand & Upper Extremity (Main Campus)

While on the “hand” service, you are actually scrubbing on cases involving the entire upper extremity.  You will be exposed to 4 different orthopaedic upper extremity staff both in the OR and in the clinic.  A vast array of surgical cases are covered including general hand elective cases; shoulder, elbow and wrist arthroscopy; shoulder and elbow arthroplasty and upper extremity fracture cases.

2 Months - Spine (Lutheran Hospital)

The PGY-3 spine rotation is primarily a mentorship rotation with Dr. Doug Orr. This service has an added emphasis on adult deformity correction and diagnostic/therapeutic decision making with revision procedure.  You will have the opportunity to see a variety of primary and complex spine cases in the operating room and in the clinic.

2 Months - Orthopaedic Trauma (MetroHealth Medical Center)

As a PGY-3, you return to Metro to join one of the other orthopaedic trauma teams.   As part of the trauma team, you will be exposed to a great number of orthopaedic trauma cases. Call remains approximately Q5 days.

2 Months - Adult Reconstruction (Main Campus)

As a PGY-3 “Joints” resident, you return to the Main Campus Joints team in a primarily operative role.  Your assignments will be with same surgeons each week to provide continuity and a semi-mentorship based experience.  Cases will include primary total hip and knee replacement, revision hip and knee replacement as well as trauma cases with one of our Orthopaedic Traumatologists.  The experience will be primarily based in the operating room and inpatient wards with minimal responsibility in the outpatient clinic. 

PGY-4

2 Months - Musculoskeletal Oncology (Main Campus)

Your PGY-4 oncology rotation is a mentorship model. You will be immersed in the entire diagnostic and therapeutic process, beginning with a weekly multi-disciplinary conference, following the patient through clinic to the operating suite and back through clinic again in the post-operative period. You will be in charge of the service, manage the PGY2 on service and assign appropriate cases to each team member. You will also have the opportunity to scrub cases with our Orthopaedic Oncologists at Lutheran and Euclid Hospitals during this rotation.

2 Months - Adult Reconstruction (Euclid Hospital)

This is a mentorship rotation with Dr. Peter Brooks.  As such, you will be working in a high-volume, high-efficiency setting with exposure to primary and revision hip and knee replacements and hip resurfacing.   You will also have the administrative responsibility of coordinating with the PGY2 to effectively manage all hospital and emergency room consults.

2 Months - Lutheran Hospital

This senior level rotation at Lutheran provides each resident the ability to scrub cases with a variety of orthopaedic staff. Cases range from hip and knee arthroplasty to general elective fracture cases to arthroscopic surgery of the upper extremity.

2 Months - Sports Medicine

As the PGY-4 on Sports, you are the Chief of the service and responsible for all weekly scheduling. During this rotation, you have the opportunity to work in a mentorship role with any number of the Sports surgeons to hone your skills in hip, knee, elbow and shoulder arthroscopy as well as participate in complex open shoulder, knee and elbow reconstructive and cartilage cases. You will also spend time in the clinic with the same attending to create continuity over the course of the rotation. The majority of cases are done at our Sports Medicine Center.

2 Months - Hand & Upper Extremity

As the PGY-4 on Hand, you are the Chief of the service and responsible for the scheduling of fellows and residents. You will be exposed to cases extending from fingertip to shoulder with all of our Hand and Upper Extremity staff.  Case diversity will be the same as during the PGY-3 rotation where will you spend time both in the clinic and operating room.

2 Months - Marymount/Fairview Hospitals

A senior level rotation at Marymount and Fairview Hospitals provides the opportunity to see a variety of orthopaedic elective and call cases. This broad experience exposes residents to a complement of staff that perform arthroplasty, fracture and trauma cases.  

PGY-5

2 Months - Adult Reconstruction

As the chief on the joints service, you are the glue that holds everything together. The chief is responsible for organizing the clinic and OR assignments for all joints residents and fellows for Main Campus. The chief also plays a crucial role in making sure all joints call and fracture cases are covered. With regard to operating, the chief many times is responsible for his own room while fellows are responsible for others. By this point in training, chiefs are able to perform a significant portion of complex revision cases.

2 Months - Lutheran Hospital

Chief Residents at Lutheran are able to scrub hip and knee replacements or more general cases per their interest.  A high volume of primary hip and knee replacements are done here and this rotation includes exposure to robotic techniques and vast general orthopaedic procedures. There is ample flexibility during this rotation to tailor to each resident’s specific interests. 

2 Months -Trauma

As the Chief resident on Trauma, you work in a mentorship model with one of our fellowship trained Traumatologist, Dr. Damien Billow at Main Campus and Hillcrest Hospital (a Level II trauma center).  Your cases will include both upper and lower extremity trauma as well as elective nonunion and deformity cases. You will have no additional call responsibility outside of standard Chief call duties and will spend one day a week with Dr. Billow in the clinic in addition to his operative days.

2 Months - Pediatric Orthopaedics

As the PGY-5 on the Pediatrics service, you are the chief senior resident responsible for managing the schedule and logistics on the service. During this rotation, you build upon the clinical fundamentals learned during the PGY-2 and PGY-3 pediatric rotations. More specifically, you attain more autonomy with pediatric general fracture care in addition to developing specialized skills in scoliosis surgery, limb length discrepancy, congenital deformity, etc.

4 Months - Chief Elective

Elective time during the chief year has been spent in many different ways depending on a resident’s individual interests. Some residents stay in Cleveland to spend more time in a particular subspecialty, while others have done international rotations, European AO fellowships, etc. There is also an opportunity to pursue adult reconstructive, sports, foot and shoulder rotations at Cleveland Clinic Florida in Weston.

Education

Didactics/Conferences

General Overview for Basic Resident Education

Resident education finds its foundation in Tuesday & Wednesday conferences, with supplemental “service-specific” conferences on various other days. A general skeleton didactic week is as follows:

• Monday – Service specific conference
• Tuesday – Academic Day
• Wednesday – Fracture Conference, Grand Rounds, or Quality/Patient Safety
• Thursday – Service specific conference
• Friday – Service specific conference

Academic Day

Basic Didactic Sessions: Tuesdays 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Academic Days are on Tuesday mornings. These are structured as case-based discussions that focus primarily on clinical relevance and board-relevance. These lectures are given by staff surgeons in each subspecialty with the assistance of an upper level and junior level resident in coordinating the topics. All subspecialties are represented equally throughout the academic year.

The final 30 minutes of each session are reserved for OITE practice questions.

Each PGY-2 through PGY-5 resident is responsible for up to three academic sessions per year. The topics are assigned prior to the beginning of the year and the assigned residents are responsible for coordinating with the appropriate staff for their sessions. This didactic education series is designed as an adjunct to a web-based study curriculum and intensive in-training review prior to the November OITE.

Fracture Conference

Fracture Conference occurs two Wednesdays per month (shared with Quality/Patient Safety and Grand Rounds). This conference is led by a PGY-4 resident. Topics include all aspects of fracture care including pediatrics, upper extremity, lower extremity, pelvis and spine.  These presentations are designed to be case-based and focused on clinical and board-relevance. 

Also during these Wednesday sessions, rotating medical students will give their 10 minute case presentation on an interesting patient they encountered during their time at Cleveland Clinic, with a brief discussion on overall diagnosis, management, and treatment strategies concerning particular orthopaedic disability/disease.

Grand Rounds

This conference occurs once per month, and is given by visiting surgeons and staff from each subspecialty group. The final Grand Rounds of each Academic Year is hosted by the chief residents and has become a tradition of staff versus residents Orthopaedic Jeopardy.

Quality/Patient Safety Conference

This conference occurs once per month and reviews complications and unplanned re-admissions. Residents involved with the cases present 5-10 minutes, including literature that supports (or undermines) a decision-making process. The goal of this conference is to learn from past experiences, with the eventual goal of enhancing patient care in both efficiency and quality.

Service Specific Conferences for Residents on Service

Oncology
A multi-disciplinary Musculoskeletal Oncology Conference occurs each Monday with staff and residents/fellows from various specialties (Pathology, MSK Radiology, Rad-Onc, Heme-Onc, Orthopaedics) in attendance. Upcoming cases are presented in a step-wise fashion, typically starting with clinical presentation, MSK imaging, biopsy results, surgical plans, and adjuvant/neoadjuvant therapy plans.

Pediatrics
Thursday and Friday morning conferences revolve around Indications and a Resident Presentations Conference on selected topics. All pediatric staff are in attendance, with both conferences being interactive between residents and staff. In addition to these conferences at Cleveland Clinic's main campus, residents rotating at Akron Children's Hospital also have morning Indications and Resident presentation conferences in addition to a Wednesday morning Pediatric Fracture conference.

Sports Medicine
This Friday morning conference is at the Sports Medicine Center. Discussion are led by a Sports Medicine Fellow and are interactive between staff and residents/fellows. Approximately 30-40 people are in attendance, including all Sports Medicine staff, residents/fellows, and MSK Radiology staff.

Adult Reconstruction
Once per week, adult reconstruction conference is held at Main campus.  Topics include adult hip and knee reconstruction, OKU topics and indications conference given by the adult reconstruction fellows. Interesting cases are presented by the staff and fellows and discussed.  Discussion revolves around indications, exam findings, surgical treatment options, and pertinent literature concerning each case. Residents and fellows on the Main campus Joints service are in attendance, as well as multiple joints staff.

Hand & Upper Extremity
Once a week, the Hand service has a "Selected Topics" conference, as selected by the staff. The Hand fellow is responsible for finding 4-5 pertinent articles from the literature, and leading an interactive discussion. Typically, the resident will present one of these articles, in a brief 5-minute synopsis. In addition, there are once-monthly (on average) cadaver workshops in order to learn new approaches or understand different manufacturer's device options. Finally, Journal clubs occur once per month at up-scale local Cleveland area restaurants, where the hand residents will be responsible for discussing one article, a piece. These dinners are attended by multiple hand staff from all over Northeast Ohio, including MetroHealth and Case Western.

Saturday Conferences

Residents attend Saturday conferences through the Cleveland Orthopaedic Society approximately 6 times per year. Conferences are on Saturdays from 8 a.m. - 10 a.m., with a frequent Friday afternoon resident session, where case presentations are made to the visiting professor concerning difficult problems or interesting management strategies in the "not-so-straightforward" orthopaedic patient.

Journal Clubs

Orthopaedic journal clubs in addition to the ones already cited occur about 10 times per year, rotating through the various sub-specialty disciplines. Typically 4-5 articles are selected for presentation and presented in a short synopsis by residents. The rest of the time is open to interactive discussion, with staff present. Depending on the season of the year, different venues are utilized. In the summer/spring/fall, journal clubs are often at staff homes, with recreational activities surrounding the discussions to include full-field soccer games, 3 vs 3 basketball tournaments, or a BBQ overlooking Lake Erie from a backyard. This is an informal, yet educational environment dedicated to increasing resident appreciation of recent literature, and learning how to critically analyze of journal literature.

Cadaver Lab

There are two opportunities for wet lab dissection and surgical practice outside the operating room.

Arthroscopic Surgery Skills Lab
This is a wet (and dry) lab that is dedicated to the orthopaedic residents and fellows. Uses of this lab can include arthroscopic practice on human cadaveric body regions (including cartilage work, ligamentous/tendon repair, meniscal repairs, etc), as well practice with various ORIF or bony work techniques. About 8 times per year, a Wednesday conference is dedicated to knee, shoulder or hip arthroscopy led by various Sports Medicine staff. The lab is also open to individual resident practice, with cadaveric specimens available with prior appointment.

The "dry" lab portion of this includes various shoulder, knee, and hip models that allow for further fine tuning of arthroscopic knot tying and instrument techniques, without the need for a cadaver. The dry lab also includes an arthroscopic simulator for knee, hip and shoulder arthroscopy. This simulator has a built-in curriculum that allows for diagnostic and interventional simulations with tactile feedback and objectives grading criteria. This simulator has assigned courses requiring completion and is available for use when resident have free time.

Medical School Prosector Lab
This lab is the main Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine anatomy facility located in the basement of the L-Building on Cleveland Clinic's main campus. Here, large-scale approach dissection can be undertaken, with some limited examples ranging from lower extremity trauma approach techniques, acetabular approaches, approaches to the scaphoid, or total hip approaches. Another use of this lab provides an opportunity for the orthopaedic resident to assist with educating medical students in prosection and in-class teaching. After a certain number of hours of prosection and teaching, residents are eligible for appointment as Clinical Instructors of Surgery through the medical school.

Saw Bones Workshop

Approximately from 4-6 times per year, residents will have the opportunity to participate in sponsored outings to local area venues for the purpose of simulating techniques with various orthopaedic implants on saw bone models. These times can prove to be very useful in learning new instrumentation, or becoming familiar with well-known instrumentation for the younger residents.

Journal Subscriptions

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery provides each resident a subscription to JBJS and JAAOS (Yellow Journal). Further journal subscriptions are readily available in the resident reading room (located in the A41 orthopaedic offices building).

Orthopaedic Education Materials 

All residents are enrolled in the OrthoBullets PASS curriculum which includes daily emails and study guides, access to all questions on the OrthoBullets website and a variety of practice exams. This subscription also gives each resident the opportunity to enroll in specialized OITE study plans, ABOS study plans and many other boards-related education resources. In addition, the department provides access to the AAOS self-assessment questions that are available through the AAOS website.

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Residency Application Requirements

The Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Training Program at Cleveland Clinic participates in ERAS, the Electronic Residency Application System, developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Three recommendation letters are required. Interview dates for 2022-2023 are:

• Tuesday, December 13, 2022 (Afternoon)
• Wednesday, December 14, 2022 (Morning)
• Wednesday, January 4, 2023 (Afternoon)
• Thursday, January 5, 2023 (Morning)
• Tuesday, January 10, 2023 (Afternoon)
• Wednesday, January 11, 2023 (Morning)

Residency Application Screening and Interview Committee

The application screening process begins in mid-October with interview target dates being offered on Universal Offer Day.

Sixty applicants are invited for interviews. While academic accomplishments, research endeavors and letter writer comments are weighted into an applicant's consideration for an interview, many other factors that uniquely comprise the individual are held highly in consideration, such as hobbies, international medical experiences or prior career accomplishments. The goal of the committee is to select applicants to interview who they feel will flourish in the orthopaedic residency training vision at Cleveland Clinic, while at the same time, adding to the unique close-knit community of residents outside the hospital walls. There is neither a minimum Board score requirement nor a predisposition toward an academic career to gain consideration for interview invitation, as more than 50% of our graduating classes pursue private practice orthopaedics each year.

Benefits

Resident Education Fund

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery provides $1,000 of allotted "Education Fund" money to all PGY 2-5 residents on an annual basis. The use of these funds can include (but is not limited to) the purchase of text books, journal subscriptions or for meeting attendance. The funds for the PGY-1 residents are earmarked for the purchase of loupes for which you will be fitted during the orientation process.

Meeting Allotments

The department allots for 3 meeting days for meeting attendance at the discretion of the resident. There are no "uniformly required" meetings with the exception of the AO Basic Trauma course, which residents attend early in the PGY-2 year. This meeting is completely funded by the department.

As chief residents, the department will pay for each resident to attend one Board Review Course. Most popular are the AAOS, the Miller Review or the Maine Review Course. In addition, the department supports chief resident attendance to the AAOS Annual Meeting.

If a resident presents his/her work at a regional/national/international meeting, the GME department supports one trip up to $1500 annually and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery will pick up any overage. Typically, residents have 2 days for travel and one day for the presentation for a total of three (3) days.

All other meetings during the PGY-1 through PGY-5 years can be funded through the individual's education fund. There are no restrictions as to which meetings a resident may attend.  Previous examples of attended national meetings have been AAOS, AAHKS, various surgical techniques courses (S.A.F.E., M.E.P.O., etc), Gainesville Pathology course, or OTA/AO courses.

Vacation

All residents receive 15 days of vacation time during their PGY-1 through PGY-5 years. These days do not include the Holiday Block (see above), which typically is an additional 4-5 days free from clinical duties. All vacation time is cleared with the chief resident on the service.

High School Sports Coverage

Each resident is assigned a high school beginning in their PGY-2 year and acts as the team physician for the football team covering Friday night games through the season (including playoffs). The resident will typically work with the same high school throughout their residency. All high schools have a co-assigned staff physician and athletic trainer, with many of the staff physicians attending games regularly. In addition to varsity football, residents have additional opportunity (though optional) to cover additional   sports, such as wrestling tournaments, hockey games/tournaments, and lacrosse tournaments.

Residents are reimbursed $125 per game, with additional gas mileage reimbursement.

Moonlighting

Is permitted as an upper level resident with approval of the residency program director.

On Call Meals

Meals are provided to residents with in-house call responsibility. In addition to the cafeteria at Cleveland Clinic's main campus, other options for dining are available in-house.

Athletic Facilities

All residents are granted free membership to the Walker Fitness Center, located across the street from the main outpatient clinic building. This facility has a state of the art free weight facility, aerobic exercise room, pool, basketball courts, indoor track, and multiple class offerings.

Health Insurance

All residents have the opportunity to be covered by the Cleveland Clinic Health Insurance plan, with a wide variety of locations covered as "Tier 1" providers.

Payroll

Please refer to Cleveland Clinic's GME website for further information regarding yearly salary.

Contact Information

Should you have any other questions regarding the application or interview process, please do not hesitate to contact the Orthopaedic Education Office and the education coordinator, Chris Orlinski at 216.445.7570.

Orthopaedic Surgery Skills Laboratory

Cleveland Clinic's Orthopaedic Surgery Skills Laboratory provides a centrally located space to train physicians on the latest procedures and hardware. It’s a convenient site for the development and evaluation of surgical products and techniques through arthroscopic practice on human cadaveric body regions, as well as various bone fixation techniques. Dry models are available for practice on basic techniques.

• Learn more about the types of equipment used, how to schedule the lab and find other useful resources