The relationship between Creighton and Nebraska exists only on paper as it currently stands. The growth of the Nebraska part of the program and the lack of growth of the Creighton part of the program have made is such that there are better educational and operative experiences available at UNMC. An effort by Creighton to continue to infuse its program with new staff additions or better the educational experience would be welcomed. Any good experiences that are available for rotations would be listened to by the faculty at UNMC, but as the UNMC part continues to grow it is going to be tough to present a better option at CUMC. The Creighton/Nebraska foundation was set up a number of years ago to financially support the resident salaries. The foundation still exists in name, but the program has been directed by the UNMC faculty for quite some time. It was a joint program only in name and dollars.
As for the operative experience as part of this program, I would argue that it still continues to be one of the best early operative and educational combinations around. The joint service at UNMC has been known for quite some time to be a service that lacks operative control as a resident. The VA, however, continues to provide plenty of opportunity to be the one with the knife in your hand during total knees, hips, and revisions. The addition of new young faculty in the areas of sports, trauma, tumor, foot and ankle have increased the opportunities for residents to operate as part of this program. We also will be likely adding new faculty for the joints service in the near future as well. The new faculty are very good at remembering what its like to be a resident. Overall the faculty as a whole are great at this.
The program has all the bases covered in terms of exposure and experience. I think the residents leaving this program have a great grasp of bread and butter orthopaedics in every area. Our residents go on to some of the most competitive fellowships in the country, we pass our boards, we scored in the 80th percentile as a program on the in-training exam this past year, and most importantly its a happy group of people to work with. The system has a wonderful ancillary staff that help us out considerably. Our staff and residents get along very well in and out of the hospital. I think the program gives you all that you can handle in terms of education but is still very conducive to having interests outside of work. I'm very happy with the decision I made.
