The Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation residency is a five-year program specifically designed to meet American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery requirements. The program accepts six residents each year, beginning at the year-one level.
With a long-standing reputation for excellence, Henry Ford Hospital attracts leaders in the fields of Orthopaedics, Athletic Medicine and Rehabilitation, and is considered one of the top Orthopaedic centers in the country. The program serves as the team physicians for the Detroit Lions, Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings.
Our physicians comprise one of the largest orthopaedic practices in the country, offering experts in every specialty including joint replacement, back and spine, foot and ankle, hand and wrist, pediatrics and scoliosis, sports medicine, tumors, and orthopaedic trauma. Collectively, they perform more than 10,000 procedures a year, 10 percent of which are pediatric cases. More than 80 percent of the operative work is done by residents, with the supervision and assistance of senior staff.
The residency program is based on Henry Ford Hospital’s Detroit campus, a dynamic setting that promises a well-rounded training experience. Most orthopaedic facilities — consultation offices, examining room, plaster rooms, x-ray facilities, orthotic lab, physical therapy areas — are located on the same clinic floor, affording maximum convenience for patients and physicians. Residents rotate through the Center for Athletic Medicine and the Bone and Joint Center research laboratories, as well as adult and pediatric clinics at the suburban Henry Ford Medical Centers.
The Resident Experience
All aspects of this program have been re-energized over the last several years with the introduction of a new department chair, a new resident director and a new trauma chief.
In a recent survey, our Orthopaedic Surgery residents across all five years were asked to list the best aspects of the program. They overwhelmingly agreed on two attributes. One was the broad spectrum of surgical experience, based on actual involvement in procedures as well as the variety of cases. The second was comradery among residents. This comradery is exemplified by the fact that our interns produced a 48-page “survival manual” for the incoming class. Our residents find a collegial atmosphere the first day they walk through the door.
Each year of the residency has been carefully constructed to teach core competencies every step of the way. The turning point of the program is the “trauma junior” experience, during which second- and third-year residents develop clinical acuity and the resources to pull together a comprehensive treatment plan. With that foundation, the last two years have been designed to achieve a positive response to the question: As a senior orthopaedic surgeon, would I hire this graduating resident into my practice? An affirmative answer means that both residents and faculty have been accountable, and that the resident is prepared to enter an exciting career in Orthopaedic Surgery.
