Our program offers a well-rounded clinical and academic experience in each of the orthopaedic subspecialties. In addition, the research gained during training will produce community-based surgeons and academicians who will remain discriminating scientists with a critical and scientifically objective eye. Our residents have access to both basic science and animal laboratories at both University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento as well as the US Davis Campus in Davis, California.

Our residents provide preoperative, operative, and postoperative care for a diverse population of patients with increasing levels of independence. The program has a diverse group of faculty with a wide breadth of orthopaedic experience. Residents rotate at three-month intervals in all the key subspecialty services which function as small practice groups under the leadership of the chief resident, with close supervision of and teaching by attending staff. Dedication to patient care responsibilities to residents is not directly tied to the year in training. Rather, faculty delegate to the resident as quickly as the resident’s capabilities merit. Faculty provide attending consultation 24 hours a day and on all operative cases. Residents also benefit from rotations at Shriners Hospital for Children, Northern California as well as Kaiser Permanente South.

Program Highlights

Each year, the UC Davis Department of Orthopaedic Surgery matches five new residents from an applicant pool of more than 600. Our goal is to provide an educational experience and environment so that at the completion of training, each resident has gained the professional knowledge, skills, and ability to enter the practice as highly competent, well-trained orthopaedic surgeons. Our program is fully accredited by the ACGME and offers a well-rounded clinical and academic experience in each of the orthopaedic subspecialties. In addition, the research experience gained during training will produce community-based surgeons and academicians who will remain discriminating scientists and who will review the literature and new developments with a critical and scientifically objective eye. The UC Davis Medical Center provides a supportive and challenging educational environment within which residents from diverse backgrounds can prepare themselves for careers characterized by a commitment to excellence in service to others through patient care, research, teaching, and lifelong learning. Faculty offer residents the opportunity to participate in the delivery of leading-edge care, exposure to state-of-the-art facilities, and provide mentorship in the delivery of safe, compassionate, and ethical care.

Training Years Overview

PGY-1

The first year of training is a combination of medical and surgical rotations. Resident’s complete rotations in, radiology, plastic surgery, emergency medicine, general trauma surgery, burn surgery, surgical intensive care as well as orthopaedic hand surgery, orthopedic trauma surgery, emergency room orthopedics, orthopaedic spine surgery, and pediatric orthopedic surgery. In addition, residents will receive longitudinal training in basic surgical skills.

PGY-2

The second year of training offers experience in managing different orthopedic conditions in both outpatient and inpatient settings. Second-year residents provide orthopedic consultations in our emergency rooms. The operating room experience emphasizes acquiring basic psychomotor technical skills and learning the fundamental principles of anatomy, surgical dissection, and orthopedic surgery. During each rotation, second-year residents serve as the junior resident of a clinical service. Developing basic orthopedic knowledge is paramount during this year. Rotations in hand surgery, sports medicine, pediatric orthopaedic surgery and orthopaedic trauma are included in the second year.

PGY-3

At this point in the program, residents should have the knowledge and experience to more actively direct the care of patients. On some rotations, residents will report directly to a fellow or to the attending faculty. In the third year, resident’s complete rotations in spine surgery, orthopaedic trauma, pediatric orthopaedic surgery, adult reconstruction surgery and foot and ankle surgery. Experience in both inpatient and outpatient care, as well as in the operating room, increases at this level. Residents actively participate in more and increasingly complex cases, which prepares them for the senior resident years.

PGY-4

Responsibility for patient care continues to increase, and in some rotations, residents report directly to the fellows and attending staff. Although the fifth-year resident on each service is the chief resident, residents have specific clinical responsibilities in the fourth year in which they function as the supervising resident. This year of training is a pivotal shift from a junior to senior resident, and expectations and responsibilities grow accordingly. Residents become more actively involved in the development of treatment plans for both outpatients and inpatients, while moving into the roles of primary surgeon and first assistant in the operating room. Fourth-year residents are expected to make the transition to a more senior role on the care team.

PGY-5

During the final year of training, residents function as the chief resident of a multiple-resident service, which varies from two to four residents depending on the rotation. Chief residents are responsible for all clinical activities of the service, including inpatient and outpatient care, as well as all operating room activity. The coordination of all resident and fellow activity and the oversight of the care provided are the responsibility of the chief resident. Chief Residents work directly with the chief of service and other members of the teaching faculty. The role as primary surgeon and first assistant in the operating room continue.

For further details about sample rotation schedules and electives, please go to the UC Davis Orthopaedic Surgery Residency page.