University of Maryland program

Information about our program....

We have an interesting mix of orthopaedics at Univ. Maryland. Our most obvious pride is Shock Trauma Ortho... The amount of trauma we see is amazing.. our trauma staff is so well recognized that HJD, Union, Hopkins, Columbia, Tripler, Walter Reed, Lenox Hill all send residents to rotate with us... I believe that speaks for itself.

Beyond this is the real gem... We have a very diverse faculty (young/old); with well known representatives including Pitt trained sports attendings, Jeff trained Spine attendings. etc. we rotate away only for Peds and Tumor (we go to Hopkins). however we also have community Tumor and Peds people that we also work with. The width of our experiece is amazing and our surgical experiences range from bread and butter to the more atypical/tertiary care experiences.

Our two main hospitals include The University of Maryland (Shock, Peds, VA) and a separate community hospital (Sports, Foot/Ankle, Peds, Shoulder/Elbow/Hand). We generally work within a mentor system with a junior/senior on a Team. Being service based, we get an extensive and focused education.

The resident collective gets along with each other exceedingly well. Half are married, half are single. Our program is female friendly. We regularly do sponsored and unsolicited activities with each other.

Our relations with our attendings are also good. Humor is embraced here. Although we work hard, we don't lose sight of the big picture.

Basic educational stuff:

weekly resident based lectures, typical M and M's, Journal Clubs, Anatomy lab are standards, as well as a host of well known visiting speakers. Books, courses paid for by department

Intern Year:

very benign... including Rheumatology, CCU, Plastics, Ortho (3 calls a month).

Call--- include some home call even as a PGY 2, generally is about q 6 in house as a 2, 3. Home call as a 4,5 to operate only...

(as everyone else says) our residents go to the fellowships that they want... we excel at placing residents into Shoulder/Elbow and Spine; but have also done things like Harborview Trauma, Union Sports, etc...

Our chairman (Pellegrini) is well known and respected in academic circles. He is active in AAOS, and other circles, and actively asserts our interests into the program.. Certainly, he brings alot to the table and consistantly advocates for us.

PM me for any specific questions... at the least, i would NOT pass up the interview.. I had the choice (as most of us have had) to go to multiple programs, and I picked University of Maryland...> Still have no regrets...

I agree with above. I graduated from UMD in 2006 and am finishing my fellowship. What has made me appreciate my residency the most is doing fellowship and having attending priviledges. I now supervise residents at another program, and think that I probably had a better surgical experience.

Also, Dr Pellegrini (VDP) really does pull for you with fellowship placement. I had a lot of options, and basically chose the one that I wanted. It is also important to note that VDP has aggressively supported my job search. To this day, I still get dinner every once in a while with my old residency director, who I consider a friend.

If you have any interest in spine, this is THE residency to go to. Dr Gelb, Dr Ludwig, and Dr Poelstra are dedicated teachers. As a resident, I did over 200 cases (full participation from DAY 1!). In fact, I learned how to put in C1 lateral mass screws in my 3rd year and carried those skillz to fellowship.

Also strong is the shoulder/elbow experience. I did a ton of shoulder and elbow cases with Dr Murthi (Columbia fellowship) and strongly considered that route. My good friend Jason chose that path and is going to Wash U. for fellowship with Ken Yamaguchi (very desirable fellowship).

also, the sports is hands on and provided me the skills to perform any knee arthroscopic procedure, and complex shoulder arthroscopy as well as basic ankle arthroscopy, and basic hip arthroscopy. though I scoped elbows, I am not sure that I would do that because bagging the ulnar nerve is bad. I hate wrist arthroscopy so I would never do it.

Good luck as you gather your info on where to go. I think that UMD is the best residency in Baltimore.

any residents here to give us an update on UMD? Any weaknesses in the program?

I heard that they enjoy that symbiotic relationship.

i don't think that's ever going to change.

When I was there, I understood that they just got the traumatologists to make money, but the residents would still get the shock experience..