Clinical Rotations

Orthopedic residents at Rush University Medical Center gain substantial experience in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of all orthopedic pathologies. Our program emphasizes a graduated and customized learning experience for young physicians to prepare them to enter either private practice or academics.

Residents have clinical rotations in all major orthopedic subspecialties. Rotations are 10 – 11 weeks long and residents rotate on five different services each year. All rotations consist of both inpatient and outpatient care. Residents provide care for patients on each service at the bedside, in the clinic as well as in the operating room. Our orthopedic faculty educates our residents in all of these settings. Residents typically spend 1 – 2 days in the clinic and 3 – 4 days in the operating room. In addition to the education received during patient care, residents actively participate in several weekly service-specific conferences led by our faculty.

Intern Clinical Rotations

Per ACGME requirements, first-year orthopedic residents spend 6 months on orthopedic services and 6 months on non-orthopedic services. Each intern rotation is one month long and exposes our new residents to many different services within orthopedic surgery and other relevant fields. Interns play an integral role in managing patient care on the floor, in clinics, and in the operating room. The education interns receive on rotations is supplemented by the intern skills curriculum that is held every Monday throughout the year.

Interns complete rotations on the following services:

• Adult Reconstruction (2 rotations)
• Cook County Orthopaedic Trauma (2 rotations)
• Tumor, Pelvis & Pediatrics (2 rotations)
• Primary Care Sports Medicine
• Cook County General Surgery Trauma (2 rotations)
• General Surgery at Rush University Medical Center or Cook County (Vascular Surgery and Surgical Oncology)
• Emergency Medicine

PGY 2 – PGY 5 Clinical Rotations

Residents complete rotations in all major orthopedic subspecialties including trauma, adult reconstruction, sports medicine, spine, foot and ankle, tumor, pediatrics, and hand. A majority of rotations are at Rush University Medical Center and Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush. Residents also rotate at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago for pediatrics. For trauma, residents rotate at Rush University Medical Center (Level II), John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County (Level I), Loyola University Medical Center (Level I), and OrthoIllinois in Rockford Illinois. OrthoIllinois is a private practice that staffs several Level I trauma centers in Rockford, Illinois, and the surrounding suburbs. In total, residents spend 60 weeks on an orthopedic trauma service throughout the 5 years, with 50 of those weeks at a Level I trauma center.