Residency Program
Welcome Letter

The Orthopaedic staff and faculty at Temple University Hospital are made up of fourteen members with expertise in sports medicine, joint reconstruction, spine surgery, hand surgery, and orthopaedic trauma.

There are four categorical residency positions available annually. Six months of the first year of residency is spent as an intern in general surgery at Temple University Hospital and its affiliated sites. Three months are spent on the orthopaedic trauma service. The final three months consist of electives in physical medicine and rehabilitation, emergency medicine and plastic surgery.

The second year of the residency is spent at Temple University Hospital in orthopaedics. The residents rotate through four services of three months each at Temple. These services include:

• Sports Medicine
• Orthopaedic Trauma
• Joint Reconstruction
• Hand Surgery

The resident is expected to learn how to perform the essentials of an orthopaedic physical examination and participate in the work-up of new patients admitted to their service. The resident attends the general orthopaedic and fracture clinics, and is present in the operating room for surgery, performing procedures according to his/her ability, under the supervision of the Chief resident and Attending physician.

During the third year of the residency, six months are spent on pediatric services, including three months at the Shriners Hospital for Children and three months at the St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. Both are the pediatric affiliates of Temple University Hospital. Shiner's Hospital focuses on pediatric orthopaedic problems such as scoliosis, developmental dysplasia of the hip, cerebral palsy, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, perthes disease, congenital hand anomalies, and clubfeet. The St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children is one of two level 1 pediatric trauma centers in Philadelphia and residents there focus on the diagnosis and management of more acute problems in children including fractures, acute infections, and other common pediatric orthopaedic problems. An additional three months of the third year are spent at Abington Memorial Hospital, a large community hospital in the Philadelphia suburbs, staffed by a private orthopaedic practice. The remaining three months are spent at Jeanes Hospital, a community affiliate of the Temple Health System.

The fourth year of residency includes six months at Abington Memorial Hospital. There the residents benefit from taking the lead at a busy community orthopaedic practice with emphasis on joint reconstruction, hand surgery, spine surgery, and orthopaedic trauma. The remaining six months are spent at Temple University Hospital as the senior resident on the sports service and the spine service for three months respectively.

Nine months of the fifth year of orthopaedic residency are spent at Temple University Hospital as a chief resident. The chiefs are responsible for the supervision and care of the patients on the orthopaedic service, in the clinics, and for the instruction of medical students rotating through the Orthopaedic Service. In addition, three months are spent at Northeastern Hospital, a Temple affiliated hospital, with a focus on providing the chief resident with an experience in community orthopaedics.

In addition to spending time in the office hours of our attendings, there are weekly resident-run clinics including General Orthopaedics, Fracture Clinic, and Hand Clinic. This unique outpatient care experience provides an invaluable experience to the resident in developing their ability to provide treatment and management of common orthopaedic ailments of their own patients under the supervision of an attending.

Didactic conferences are held daily at 6:30 A.M. These conferences cover various orthopaedic topics and include regular fracture conferences, journal clubs, basic science and biomechanic discussions, indication conferences, and a review of the week's surgery. Anatomy is taught by the faculty of the Temple University School of Medicine Department of Anatomy on Thursday evenings during the academic year and includes both classroom discussion and cadaveric dissection. Grand Rounds are held on Saturday mornings during the academic year and include both in-house and guest speakers.

Research, either basic science or clinical, is a program requirement. Each resident must complete at least one project suitable for peer review publication prior to graduation. Both the Medical School and the University offer access to various facilities and expertise including bioengineering, kinesiology, an animal laboratory, and statistics. The Department maintains a complete patient database which is accessible to all residents and attending staff.

The program selects its residents through the National Intern & Residency Matching Program. Applications for residency should be made via ERAS by November 1st , during the senior year of Medical School.

ASIF ILYAS, MD
Residency Director