USF

I don't think that it will be dissolving anytime soon. Word on the street is that their Chairman will be leaving soon to Cali.

I actually heard the exact opposite. I've heard that USF is getting off the ground and going to be an excellent program in years to come. it had dissolved a decade or more ago because of some political strife between Tampa General Hospital and the Florida Orthopedic Institute. Recently these two entities began cooperating again and decided to resurrect the residency program. I interviewed with this program last January and thought it had a ton of potential. the chairman is a well reputed guy that was the residency director at UCSD for many years. it didn't seem like he was going anywhere and was pretty excited about this new program. the residency director seemed very resident-oriented and dedicated to developing an excellent training program. to me the program looked pretty sweet actually and i would've ranked it higher if not for family reasons. if these rumors are true (which i doubt) then they definitely put on a good show. it would probably be best for a USF resident to weigh in here.

Again, I have no doubt that the program will be here to stay. They have a great group of core faculty and a great group of starting residents. I am, however, fairly certain that a new chairman is in their near future.

the current USF chair is bouncing to chair UCLA.

Given the recent volume of rumors flying around the internet regarding our residency, we felt that a rebuttal to address possible concerns about our program was necessary.

The University of South Florida Orthopaedic Residency received accreditation two years ago. We are approved for four residents a year and as of July 1, we will have a total of sixteen residents with postgraduate years 1-4 filled. At the time of our approval and for the following two years Dr. Robert Pedowitz was our department's chairman. In the spring of this year Dr. Pedowitz, a California native and graduate of UCLA, was offered the chairmanship of the UCLA department of orthopaedics. Faced with the opportunity to return to his home, live closer to his family, and take a position at one of the top ten medical schools in the country, it was not surprising that he accepted an offer that he described as "once in a lifetime."

In light of Dr. Pedowitz's imminent departure, one of our senior faculty members, Dr. David Leffers, was appointed chairman. Dr. Leffers is not an interim chairman, he is the chairman. Dr. Leffers has been the primary physician covering USF's athletic teams for over twenty years and is a fixture in the Tampa Bay community. The nomination of Dr. Leffers was greeted with overwhelming support by both the academic and private physicians who comprise our department. As many people know, our faculty includes several members of the Florida Orthopaedic Institute, headed by Dr. Roy Sanders, and several community surgeons in addition to our core academic faculty. Dr. Leffers was a founding member of FOI and his reputation as a surgeon and educator is appreciated by all of our department’s members.

In addition to Dr. Leffers, Dr. Douglas Letson remains our residency director. Dr. Letson is an orthopaedic oncologist at Moffitt Cancer Center where he is chairman of the Sarcoma Program. We can say without reservation that Dr. Letson is the most supportive, energetic, and altruistic program director in the country. His dedication to the residency is unlike anything any of us have encountered and it is primarily his vision that drives the success of our residency.

In the spirit of full disclosure we will mention that in addition to Dr. Pedowitz our department may experience an additional loss with
the likely departure of Dr. George Haidukewych, who may leave Tampa to assume the chairmanship of the residency in Orlando. Although his presence on the trauma service would be missed, we are still left with an ample trauma faculty with Drs. Sanders, Sagi, Herscovici, Watson, and Clare.

Our department is not foundering. In 2008, our first year in the NRMP, we matched 4 of our top 6 applicants. This year we matched 4 of our top 7. With our mixture of community and academic surgeons we have faculty with national or international reputations in every subspecialty. Our weekly didactics are superb. Last week we spent three hours in the gross lab with Claude Sagi performing pelvic exposures. This week John Small performed cervical spine exposures followed by a Sawbones lab. Next week our chairman will be dissecting fresh knee specimens. We will begin a new adult reconstruction program with Drs. Thomas Bernasek and Mark Mighell this year as well. Add to that the fact that our average winter temperature is somewhere around 70 degrees, the beach is a 30 minute drive, and golf can be played any day of the year we challenge you to find a better location for residency. Feel free to contact us with any questions.



Sincerely,
Eric Henderson, PGY-3
Odion Binitie, PGY-3
Paul Edwards, PGY-3
Stephen Wilson,, PGY-3
Brian Palumbo , PGY-2
German Marulanda, PGY-2
Derek Weichel, PGY-2
Nazeem Virani, PGY-2
Trey Alexander, PGY-1
Brandon Burris, PGY-1
Rick Cain, PGY-1
Brian Domby, PGY-1

I am a 3rd year resident at USF Ortho and agree with what Eric Henderson- now PGY-4 previously posted. I would also like to add a few points with regards to recent events.

Our program is centered on education, not on scut work. That does not imply that USF Ortho is a vacation. This is a place for individuals who are self-motivated and want to gain substantially from their training. Our academic model is a three pillar system. We work with academic physicians, community physicians, as well as the Florida Orthopaedic Institute (FOI) - a nationally renowned academic/private institution. This enables us to gain multiple perspectives on different types of practice as well as it gives us tremendous hand-on experience.

Recently, we began a three month research rotation where we have the opportunity to pursue both clinical research and biomechanical study interests. We have also started an advanced adult reconstruction rotation at FOI as well with Dr. Bernasek and Dr. Mighell as our attendings.

Our former chairman recently accepted a position at UCLA Ortho. He helped to initiate growth and development at USF Orthopaedics and his time here was productive. However, Dr. Leffers is our new chairman and this advancement has been a tremendously positive experience for our program. Since his promotion, we have made many advancements such as beginning three new rotations, positive changes to our didactic courses, and newly funded educational resources. We feel that currently, our residency is as strong as it has ever been and we will continue to grow under Dr. Leffer's and Dr. Letson’s leadership.