Here is some information I have previously posted:
Being an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin, I have not much to say other than "thumbs up". It is an excellent program with a great lifestyle. It tends to cater to families and there are not many single residents. Madison is a fantastic place to live, lots of outdoor activities, water skiing, sailing, biking, etc... And yes you have time to pursue those things. However, you have to like snow (but not Buffalo snow).
There have been several new staff added in the last couple of years (trauma, peds, adult recon) and several more on the way (hand, spine, sports) to round out a great staff already. The program is now headed by Tom Zdeblick, MD who is well known in the spine world and will do great things for the department.
The junior call schedule is q8 and senior call is q4. There are two 3 month private rotations that are essentially technical skills labs. You do a lot of operating very early in your training. The only significant weakness is there is not much training in acute hand (soft tissue), however, that makes call a little easier to swallow on some days. But, the current hand doc is retiring at the end of this year and they are hiring a new guy who will participate in hand call, so this will be a none issue after this year.
Quality of training is fantastic. When you finish you will be more than comfortable in all areas of orthopedics and can do about anything you want (private practice, academics, fellowships). You will be an excellent technician and clinician which can be highly variable at other well known programs around the Midwest.
The program remains extremely competitive and usually matches in their top ten. Signing up for a rotation may increase your odds if you find a resident who likes you and is willing to push for you (info for those M3s lurking here).
I highly recommend interviewing at this program if you can, but in my experience, the interview day was not able to truly show you what a great program this is. Hopefully, they have revamped the interview process since I've been there.
Being an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin, I have not much to say other than "thumbs up". It is an excellent program with a great lifestyle. It tends to cater to families and there are not many single residents. Madison is a fantastic place to live, lots of outdoor activities, water skiing, sailing, biking, etc... And yes you have time to pursue those things. However, you have to like snow (but not Buffalo snow).
There have been several new staff added in the last couple of years (trauma, peds, adult recon) and several more on the way (hand, spine, sports) to round out a great staff already. The program is now headed by Tom Zdeblick, MD who is well known in the spine world and will do great things for the department.
The junior call schedule is q8 and senior call is q4. There are two 3 month private rotations that are essentially technical skills labs. You do a lot of operating very early in your training. The only significant weakness is there is not much training in acute hand (soft tissue), however, that makes call a little easier to swallow on some days. But, the current hand doc is retiring at the end of this year and they are hiring a new guy who will participate in hand call, so this will be a none issue after this year.
Quality of training is fantastic. When you finish you will be more than comfortable in all areas of orthopedics and can do about anything you want (private practice, academics, fellowships). You will be an excellent technician and clinician which can be highly variable at other well known programs around the Midwest.
The program remains extremely competitive and usually matches in their top ten. Signing up for a rotation may increase your odds if you find a resident who likes you and is willing to push for you (info for those M3s lurking here).
I highly recommend interviewing at this program if you can, but in my experience, the interview day was not able to truly show you what a great program this is. Hopefully, they have revamped the interview process since I've been there.