Harvard ortho

I hear the fellows take all the cases. FWIW

Any opinions from people who have rotated there? I think we've all heard the rumors about fellows, but it would be interesting to hear from rotators/harvard students about their thoughts on if its true.

I think changing to two month rotations has probably really helped...but how much?

I'd like to hear more about Harvard's program as well if anyone has any info, or if people that rotated there would fill out reviews.

Don't everyone reply at once.

I've heard from a lot of people that the residents there don't get near the op experience the fellows do. It's not my firsthand experience obviously, but where there's smoke...

Not to say Harvard is a bad program, but you don't really go to places like that for huge operative volume.

I'm currently an intern in the Harvard Program and would like to add my 2 cents.

First off, when you go to a big-name program, there are going to be fellows. There is no way around this. Fellows want to work with big name attendings, and big name attendings practice at big name hospitals. As far as hospitals go, the Brigham and MGH are two of the most well known hospitals on the East Coast, if not the entire US.

The beautiful thing about Ortho is case volume, and trust me, these hospitals see plenty of volume. When you have enough cases (as is usually the case), whether or not there are fellows becomes inconsequential. Also, at BWH, the fellows can actually run OR rooms by themselves, which means they will take you through the cases. While it is a commonly held belief that fellows can hinder an experience, my thoughts are that they can actually be beneficial to your education. Operating with fellows is much less stressful and you can shoot questions from your hip without thinking twice.

Bottom line about the fellow issue...if you want to go to a big name program there are going to be fellows. Will you have nailed as many femurs as the person who attended a rural program down south where you ran through cases simply because they NEEDED an extra resident?..i'm not sure. Will you have worked with some of the best minds and teachers in their respective fields and feel comfortable handling some of the most complicated orthopaedic patients the world has to offer?...I think the answer is yes.

If you want to be a small-town orthopod who wants to bang out routine hips on healthy patients without doing a fellowship, then maybe a program that offers early and often operative experience is for you. If you want to go to a top-notch academic institution with the flexibility to be desired by most if not all fellowship programs, then Harvard would be a good option. Trust me, most of you will be doing fellowships. If you end up doing Hand you're sure as hell not going to care that you logged more knee-scopes than anyone else. But you will be able to say, yeah, i worked with Dr. Jupiter and this is how he taught me to do things...blah, blah blah.

A lot of graduating fellows do general ortho in addition to what they trained in during their fellowship.

bump for more thoughts on the Harvard Program from residents or rotators

It's Harvard... It's undeniable.

As a current midlevel resident I can honestly say that the operative experience is equal if not better than those in the surrounding region. I rarely see fellow interference, as resident and fellow-run services are more separate than in the past. Fellows round on the patients they operate on and the same is true for residents. For interesting cases where there may be occasional double scrubbing going on, the role of the fellow and resident is clearly delineated at the beginning of the case.

I'd like to hear a more recent experience about Harvard. Please reply!

While not directly related to the Harvard program, I would offer the following advice to current ortho applicants:

Seek the places that combine heavy operative experience (this really means trauma, whether you like it or not) with a "name" that provides academic connections to obtain the fellowship of your choosing. This is really the best of both worlds. I have friends who did residency at the big-in-name-only places that struggle with basic operative skills and ability to handle the cases you will see on-call. These programs, in my opinion, are the best option because they prepare you for a career in either academics or private practice.

The places that come to mind that offer this scenario, in no order:

Iowa
Emory
Campbell Clinic
Carolinas
Miami
WashU
UTSW
USC

The places that come to mind that offer this scenario, in no order:

Added to the list:

Iowa
Emory
Campbell Clinic
Carolinas
Miami
WashU
UTSW
USC
Vanderbilt
Utah

The places that come to mind that offer this scenario, in no order:

Added to the list:

Iowa
Emory
Campbell Clinic
Carolinas
Miami
WashU
UTSW
USC
Vanderbilt
Utah
NYU
Case Western
Brown

Alex, I've heard this, too. However I've only heard it from someone who knows someone who heard from someone. What exactly do you mean when they struggle with basic operative skills? What do they do during their 5 years, watch surgery?

Anyone know anything about the away here? Mgh? Bwh? PM if you have details.

I have friends who did residency at the big-in-name-only places that struggle with basic operative skills and ability to handle the cases you will see on-call.

For interesting cases where there may be occasional double scrubbing going on, the role of the fellow and resident is clearly delineated at the beginning of the case.