UCLA Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program: Training Tomorrow's Leaders

The UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery offers a comprehensive and highly regarded residency program designed to cultivate future leaders in the field. With a commitment to excellence in all facets of academic medicine, the program provides a tailored experience that balances holistic training with individual interests and goals.

Program Overview

The UCLA and Luskin Orthopaedic Institute for Children’s Orthopaedic Residency Program is a fully-accredited, integrated five-year training program. It meets all requirements set forth by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The program aims to equip residents with a broad and diversified clinical and academic experience, preparing them to excel as either academic orthopaedic surgeons or clinical leaders. It strives to ensure residents are competent and comfortable in general orthopaedic practice, while also providing a strong foundation for future fellowship training.

Holistic Approach and Tailored Experiences

The program's core is anchored in a holistic approach. It supports individuals in their pursuit of excellence in technical skills, patient care, research, healthcare delivery, and medical education. Each trainee's experience is tailored to their specific interests and goals. The program fosters a community of high reliability, empathy, tolerance, and advocacy to support both learners and the community they serve.

Clinical Experience

The program offers a comprehensive, multi-subspecialty experience through its affiliations. Residents gain a balanced clinical experience in various areas. These include:

Adult reconstructive surgery
Pediatric orthopaedics
Trauma
Surgery of the hand
Sports medicine
Metabolic bone disease
Spinal reconstruction
Foot and ankle surgery
Shoulder and elbow surgery
Orthopaedic oncology

This diverse clinical exposure is complemented by continued integrated studies in basic science and research. The R1 year provides diversified surgical training, fulfilling all ACGME requirements.

Outpatient Clinics

Outpatient orthopaedic clinics offer a diverse and abundant clinical experience. This incorporates academic medicine, private practices, and community-based programs. Each rotation and division has a dedicated faculty director/division educational lead. They guide the resident's clinical and didactic learning. The program is designed to provide graduated responsibility, allowing each resident to perform clinically and surgically according to their ability. This includes the responsibility of managing and educating less-experienced residents and medical students.

Training Environment and Resources

The home base of the program is the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center and Orthopaedic Institute, which has 266 beds, 40 of which are devoted to orthopaedics. The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has 454 hospital beds, with 26 designated for orthopaedics/plastic surgery.

The department boasts a large, dedicated, and state-of-the-art orthopaedic research facility: the J. Vernon Luck, Sr., MD/Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center at UCLA. This facility was created following a Strategic Alliance with the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Institute for Children in 1998.

The department has more than thirty clinical faculty and over twenty dedicated research faculty, with a large cadre of voluntary clinical faculty that contribute to the education of our trainees.

Didactic Education

A comprehensive core lecture series is completed yearly. Faculty-lead lectures and resident-lead case presentations are given each Wednesday morning, during dedicated, protected educational time. Each hospital and sub-specialty also provide an additional 1-2 hours of protected didactics weekly. Core lectures are reinforced with:

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Monthly grand rounds
Monthly quality assurance conferences
Dedicated Orthopaedic In-Training Examination review
Bi-monthly trauma intake conferences
Monthly journal clubs
A yearly hands-on anatomy course
Weekly musculoskeletal research seminars

Research Opportunities

All residents have the opportunity to participate in clinical and/or laboratory investigations during their residency program. All residents are required to present their research during graduation and prepare at least one manuscript worthy of publication in a refereed journal.

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery includes bioengineers, molecular biologists, geneticists, specialists in tissue engineering, stem cell biologists, a kinesiologist, and computer experts to instruct and assist the residents in the preparation and analysis of their research projects. Two residents from the second-year class elect to devote an additional year between their second and third year of clinical training for intensive basic science and clinical research. This allows outstanding residents the unique opportunity of preparing themselves for an eventual career as a clinician-scientist.

Fellowship Information

The UCLA/Orthopaedic Hospital Department of Orthopaedic Surgery provides useful and up-to-date information about post-graduate orthopaedic fellowships. The educational environment at UCLA is truly world class: A top-tier research institution, dedicated and experienced faculty, talented trainees, a superb hospital system, and an incredibly diverse environment. These are key ingredients for extraordinary learning.

Fellowship Application

Pediatrics, Spine, and Sports Medicine fellowship applicants should have completed an approved orthopaedic residency. Hand Fellowship applicants should have completed an approved residency in orthopaedic surgery, plastic and reconstructive surgery or general surgery. A California license is required for all clinical fellows.

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