this is a great question.....when I interviewed last year....you could not believe the number of programs that seemed to have some major holes and not much of a plan to fill them.....that being said the major reason I chose to stay at SLU is because of Dr. Moed and the trauma posse that has whipped this place into shape....
5 years ago we were a small program and now Dr. Moed has made this place a trauma powerhouse Dr. watson, karges, jackman, and a recent addition boudreaux from shock trauma make this place a major trauma center.....we also have great spine...Dr. Place and Alander are great teachers and work very well with residents......
I think Dr. Moed is alays looking to add staff and expand our program....we hired a new hand attending last year...Dr debartolo and we do some private hand with dr. howard at a community hospital....

we recently have expanded our program to a nice private hospital called St. Johns....this is a way for us to get some bread and butter ortho.....at SLU we do trauma that most places dont see near the volume.

We have one excellent joint surgeon dr. otto...he is into minimally invasive stuff and moed is working on getting another joint person in the future......

so basically you have to look at the overall direction a program is heading....be advised no place is perfect but you need to find a place that is solid and is working to improve.....this is important cause academic ortho has a high turn over because of the competitive saleries that can be earned in the private sector.....

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have any thoughts on Wash U, the other St. Louis program?

Wash U. is a top tier academic program with no holes. Their facilities are unparalleled, their faculty is top notch, and they are only getting stronger.

wash U just lost their director of ortho trauma (borelli) to texas (he is now chair at u texas in dallas). They still have dr ricci. They do have great facilities though.

I have only heard this.......wash U is heavily dominated by fellows and has a very late operative experience.....this is only hear say, but I am from the lou and did not even apply there......SLU has the market cornered on trauma dont kid yourself....our department reads like the whose who of the OTA...

Saint Loius is indeed fortunate to have two outstanding orthopaedic programs. But as a venue for medical students who are trying to get a balanced view of programs to which they may apply, I think partisan advertising is best left out of the forum. Trauma is an important part of orthopaedic education, but it is not the be all end all and programs that are "trauma heavy" may invariably leave their trainees deficient in some other area. For training purposes, a well balanced program is, in my view, the most important criteria for medical students to evaluate in their prospective programs. As far as name recognition goes, I don't think you can do any better than Wash U though. Lenke, Bridwell, Ricci, Galatz, Gelberman, Boyer - their attendings staff is a who's who of orthopaedic surgery in each respective field.
Other programs that I think are outstanding are the University of Wisconsin, Dartmouth and University of Virginia. Dr. Laurencein is really establishing a great program in Charlottesville.

Trauma is an important part of orthopaedic education, but it is not the be all end all ...........
As far as name recognition goes, I don't think you can do any better than Wash U though. Lenke, Bridwell, Ricci, Galatz, Gelberman, Boyer - their attendings staff is a who's who of orthopaedic surgery in each respective field.

I hope you are not saying name recognition is the "be all end all" either.
while that helps, being well known/famous does not always equal being a good teacher/mentor.

Absolutely, I echo your sentiment. I was merely commenting on the reputation of individuals in the various orthopaedic departments at Wash U. I am not a Wash U resident but I understand that at least Drs. Galatz and Boyer are outstanding educators. One of Dr. Boyer's special areas of emphasis is orthopaedic medical student and resident education.