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; 26 of these are designated as orthopaedics/plastic. In 1998, UCLA entered a Strategic Alliance with the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Institute for Children, which brings with it a rich tradition in pediatric orthopaedics, education and research. This alliance has led to the creation of our large, dedicated, and state-of-the-art orthopaedic research facility (the J. Vernon Luck, Sr., MD/Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center at UCLA). 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.
Basic science study in orthopaedics is integrated throughout the entire curriculum with additional concentrated programs in anatomy, pathology, and biomechanics. A comprehensive core lecture series is given each Wednesday morning when residents have no clinical obligations, and each hospital and specialty area has a weekly conference. Following the core lecture series and the case review conference, Orthopaedic Grand Rounds are held on the first Wednesday morning of each month at 9:00am in the Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center at UCLA, room 154, and are open to all those interested in attending.
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 at the UCLA/OIC Grand Rounds as well as prepare at least one manuscript worthy of publication in a refereed journal.
Within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, there are 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 projects. Before the completion of the R2 year, two of the R2's are selected as research fellows who devote an additional year to intensive basic science and clinical research. We feel this gives those outstanding residents the unique opportunity of preparing themselves for a possible academic career. These research experiences have been highly productive resulting in multiple peer review publications.
Our goal is to provide our residents with a broad and diversified clinical and academic experience suited to individuals eager to become either academic orthopaedic surgeons or clinical leaders in the community. We strive to prepare our orthopaedic residents to be competent and comfortable in a general orthopaedic practice, while simultaneously providing a platform for the best possible subsequent fellowship training opportunities, when desired.
The UCLA and Orthopaedic Institute for Children Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and affiliated institutions offer an integrated five-year training program to orthopaedic residents that covers all of the multi-subspecialty disciplines of orthopaedic surgery. The program includes a balance of clinical experience in adult reconstructive surgery, children's orthopaedics, trauma, surgery of the hand, sports medicine, metabolic bone disease, spinal reconstruction, and orthopaedic oncology, with continued integrated studies in basic science and research. The R1 year provides diversified surgical training and fulfills all ACGME requirements for this year including training in radiology, critical care, emergency medicine, and rheumatology.
The outpatient orthopaedic clinics have abundant and diverse clinical material with one-on-one faculty mentorship. Each subspecialty unit has a full-time faculty director and residents who are assigned to participate in patient care. Our program is designed to give graduated responsibility, allowing each resident to perform clinically and surgically according to his or her ability, including the responsibility of managing and educating residents and medical students of less experience.
