The Program

The University of Connecticut School of Medicine offers an accredited five-year training program in Orthopaedic Surgery. The Program gives residents a broad exposure to musculoskeletal disease, with the goal being development of skills necessary to provide excellent patient care as practicing academic and/ or community orthopaedic surgeons.

The Residency Program in Orthopaedic Surgery at The University of Connecticut School of Medicine is designed to help residents develop graduated levels of responsibility with each surgical rotation. The residents gain experience in many disciplines, including musculoskeletal disease from both the clinical and the basic science perspective. They will encounter a full range of challenging adult and pediatric orthopaedic cases as they rotate through the hospitals affiliated with the residency- The University of Connecticut Health Center, Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. The residents work with full-time and associated clinical faculty fellowship trained in all subspecialties of orthopaedic surgery including adult reconstruction, foot and ankle, hand, musculoskeletal infection, musculoskeletal oncology, pediatrics, shoulder and elbow, spine, sports medicine, and trauma. The full-time and associated voluntary clinical faculty are strongly committed to providing residents with an exceptional educational experience.

The Residency

Throughout the Program, each resident is exposed to surgical techniques and is given the opportunity to complement his/her knowledge through clinical and basic research areas. There is a strong experience in both operative and non-operative orthopaedic patient care including the PGY1 year of general surgery which is under the direction of the orthopaedic program. In addition to the 4 hospital sites listed above, the PGY1 residents also rotate at the New Britain General Hospital for general surgery and ICU experience.

There are multiple structured conferences held at each of the program’s four main hospital sites including case presentations, topic-oriented literature reviews, morbidity and mortality rounds, etc. All residents, including PGY-1 residents, also participate in a weekly half-day basic science program, a bimonthly six-station bioskills laboratory program, a monthly Journal Club meeting, a statistics curriculum, and the Hartford Orthopaedic Forum where guest lecturers from outside the Greater Hartford Orthopaedic Community speak. The PGY-1 residents also have a separate six-week basic science curriculum and are given a one week introduction to research course.

The residents are sent to the AO Basic Principles and Techniques of Operative Fracture Management Course for Residents during their PGY-1 or 2 year, the Boston Pathology Course during both their PGY-3 and PGY-5 years, the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons during their PGY-5 year, and The Maine Orthopaedic Surgery Board Review Course during their PGY-5 year. They are also given time off and a stipend towards attending an additional meeting during each of their PGY-2 through PGY-5 years and time off to attending meetings that they are presenting at.

Upon completing the Program, the orthopaedic resident possesses a fund of knowledge and an academic background consistent with established educational objectives and is able to practice medicine in a mature and capable fashion. Many of our residents further their education with a PGY-6 fellowship year. The UCONN Program is designed to encourage surgeons to become leaders in their chosen career of orthopaedic surgery.