DO programs

I've been voyeur of this site since undergrad and now that the match is just about upon on us I suppose I'll crack and add my opinions as there doesn't seem to be too much new info for the DO applicants. Please be forewarned these are solely my impressions, I will try to give the best info that I have to offer, imperfect though it may be. I interviewed at a handful of MD programs as well but they have all been thoroughly covered and I don't have a lot to add. I honestly believe if you are fortunate enough to match into ortho at any MD or DO program in the country you'll be well trained and you & your family will have access to a great specialty and life.

So my thoughts:

Ingham
Solid program with good OR exposure, not alot of time for anything else, you are the resident of the hospital and research, academics are very much second to that. Kinda follows the DO workhorse mentality. That being said you get alot of cases, trauma at Orthoindy, and most of the residents seem well trained. Seem to strongly prefer rotators (true most programs but seems to be changing) It's Lansing, which kinda blows but it is a College town with great sports and some things to do. Overall good training, limited academics, so so location. Excellent fellowship placement, also seemed to be true at most programs I looked at. The faculty were a mix of good to work with some "special" personalities and the residents had good things to say.

Henry Ford
Good program, not nearly as many diverse faculty as Lansing. Probably some of the best didactics, good commraderie between residents. Cons is that the program is fairly inbred with most of the attendings not fellowship trained/grads from that program. And Detroit...is Detroit. Overall though good didactics, heard they perform VERY well on OITE, good hands on training. I believe they make education a priority and it shows.

Riverside
Busy, busy, busy, you are in a county underserved hospital and work your tail off. PD seems somewhat abrasive and the residents seemed worked. But you are in Cali and you get alot of OR time. Unfortunately this time seems dominated by diabetic stuff, pus, etc but you will get experience. Peds I think was at Childrens Hosp of Orange County - which will get you to see some good peds cases. Heard rumored that they don't interview alot of rotators, but am not sure. Overall you get worked, can be in Cali, lots of of OR time.

PCOM
Lots been said before, I won't belabor. I agree with much of the above, good subspecialty exposure, good fellowships. Rotate at lots of hospitals + Philly traffic can make it pretty brutal but all the guys seem to get along/like the program.

Metro
Easily the biggest surprise and my favorite program on the trail. Located in Grand Rapids - which I surprisingly found to be an awesome mid-sized city with lots of beer, sports, food. The PD seemed very approachable and the residents all seemed to really get along, they have 2 female residents who seemed cool. Education done with the bigger MD program in town, most subspecialties covered with hand, spine, F&A, joints, sports, etc. PD and faculty emphasized that OR time and academics are key - can set up electives, research, etc with lots of faculty support. TONS of OR time - more cases than residents to cover and the Jrs & Srs said they never double scrub. Good bread and butter trauma but not uber trauma heavy. Very much a program that is growing - seem to keep adding without losing faculty. Trauma rotations also at OrthoIndy & Peds at Cinci. Don't seem to favor rotators and really seemed interested in getting to know me. Overall newer program, tons of OR time, great didactics, on the grow in a nice area.

Good luck to one and all. This process sucks but we are all almost through it. Hope this was helpful and thanks to orthogate for making it possible for all of us to have a forum and resource.

Information on DO ortho programs seems to always be pretty sparse and I felt this site had the best/most info. I will post more in depth reviews on the Program Review section but here's a little bit about the places I rotated at. These are my personal opinions and everyone has a different experience. PM if you have any other questions.

Doctor's--
Very solid program. I didnt get to meet Dr. Baker until the interview but seems like a nice guy that the residents respect. Large program with 25 residents and lots of attendings. Most of their rotations are done at Grant (hand, sports, trauma) which is an excellent hospital. But all of them are in Columbus, OH which is a big plus. Trauma is probably their strongest part of the program, where most of their didactics are geared towards (one day a week from 6-noon). Good balance between OR and clinic time. Lots of bodies in the OR during trauma rotation (three trauma fellows at Grant) and the lowers get bumped from surgeries at Doctors by upper levels. Rotated in July so was there for first month of new interns and new chiefs, so this may have something to do with the fact that I thought this program had the least skilled and confident residents when in the OR. Best research opportunities of all the programs I rotated at.

OSI (St. Mary's in Blue Springs, MO)--
Private practice like many DO programs but is solely one group (OSI). Most the docs trained in this program so a little inbred and in the past partial to the KC DO school students. When I rotated all docs were general orthopedics but are adding two sports guys (one trained with Andrews, one with Lemak). Peds done at Children's Mercy in KC, oncology done with Dr. Rosenthal who is very well respected, hand also done in the area. Trauma is 3months in your 4th year in Las Vegas. This program is a bread and butter program that gives you massive exposure to total joints (general so few reconstructions or revisions.) Variable sports exposure with shoulder and knee scopes. Great fellowship track with sports (one chief going to Lemak, the other to Andrews this year with residents at both in the past.) Seems like the chiefs are confident and proficient, lots of procedures on their own with the doc watching from a chair. PD Dr. Orth is very nice and great teacher, one of the Paul brothers is also an excellent teacher and all-around guy the other is not. He does not let residents operate and is dreadful to be around. Controversy with where the residency is headed with the recent sale of St. Mary's hospital.

St. Anthony's OKC--
PD Dr. West is an awesome guy, I did not spend much time with him during my rotation but he was very down to earth and polite during the interview process. Composed of a few private practices but all docs are excellent to be around (only place where every doc actually talked to you and were interested in teaching.) Great mix of general and specialty orthopedics. I think you do a couple of blocks of peds during your third year and 6 months straight of trauma in Tyler, TX your 4th year (5hrs away). Didactics every morning with trauma conference once a week. I felt the chiefs here were the most proficient and confident of all the places that I rotated. Most do fellowships (hand with Dr. Green and shoulder in Phoenix for this years chiefs). Lifestyle can be variable it seemed. Trauma 2 rotates with different area hospitals so if you are on call during that weekend sleep doesnt exist, otherwise it seemed pretty mild and if the census was large many times another resident will offer to help round in the morning. Limited opportunities for research.

Riverside, CA--
Sounds like I had an experience that was different from other students. It was very slow and only worked 60hrs a week where as most students claim 100-120hrs during their rotation. Staff was rude along with about half the docs. PD Dr. Faerber seems like he is bipolar, very nice one second the next tearing into you for forgetting to ask a question. Just a little strange. I'm a midwesterner so it may be normal for those coastal students. Most (80%) of the surgeries were either trauma or some sort of infection. Sports and joints done at Kaiser which the residents speak of highly. Peds guy Dr. Schlecter is an interesting guy but very knowledgeable and is a strong proponent of resident education and research. Residents seemed very smart especially the seniors. As an intern you do most of the scut work, as a second year you rotate 12hr shifts between two guys while the other is on spine. So little OR time as a first and second year but as a third year you basically get your own room with little supervision, and continues as a 4th and 5th year. Lots of autonomy but scary since its chiefs teaching PGY3 and so on. As a student you do so much clinic work, by far the most clinic I saw anywhere. It is a county hospital so 80-120 patients in clinic, but lots of responsibility as a student.

In general all programs will say that they give the most operating experience but this isnt true, felt OKC had the most OR time (4.5 days a week). OSI will be the best family life and will give you ample opportunity to do bread and butter procedures. Doctors has a great reputation and the best research opportunities but felt their residents were behind the others when it came to operating skills. CA has great weather and good distance from some awesome cities. You will get the best trauma, peds, infection control experience out of the four places I went to, but might be all you get.

If you like general ortho or total joints-KC
If you want to operate like a boss-OKC
If you like trauma, peds trauma-Riverside
If you want an academic feel-Doctor's

Franciscan St. James Chicago:
A lot changed in this program during the gunning season. Davis was the old director when gunning season started. He was later replaced by Dr. Durudogan. In Davis’ time, residents had very little say in resident selection. However now residents seem to be picking residents. There was no interview in Davis’s time, they had a fairly stressful interview day this year. Too many changes took place to see where the program is going. Dr. Durudogan seemed like a good guy, operates out of Christ, general Ortho guy. Student rotation is based out of Chicago Heights which is about 35 miles south of Downtown Chicago, but you also see consults at Oly, which is not too far from the Heights. Most of the residents are on out-rotations but you get to meet them on wednesday evening during didactics. At the base hospital, you operate with 3 surgeons - Mehl, Coats, and Payne, all good guys. Mehl is general but does a lot of scopes and joints. Coats is hand and UE. Payne is spine but also does a lot of general, he pimps you relentlessly in to submission btw but don't feel bad as he does it to everyone. Were not big on boards when Davis was around, but I think that changed this year. Residents ran the interview day, and board scores seemed to be emphasized highly. Used to take at least 1 girl/year but not sure what will happen this year.

Pros: When I rotated, program seemed very friendly and not malignant at all, however , this may change now. I met all 20 residents and can safely say that every single one of them was nice and down to earth. Base hospital is not very busy but residents spend most of their time on out rotations at 8 different hospitals, including 3 level 1 trauma centers: Cook County, Christ, and Illinois Masonic. Peds at Shriners, Hand at Northwestern, Joints at Weiss with Dr. Finn. Ingalls for general and sports. Residents here get to operate from day one and graduate with 2500 to 3000 cases. Senior that I worked with was an excellent surgeon. All rotations are in Chicago area so residents don't have to move, most of them live downtown.

Cons: Hospitals are all over the place, so as a resident you're spending quite a lot time on the road. Didactics are very poor but they are trying to change that. Apparently they are in a clash with the DME to give them block time for didactics like most other programs. As of now, they spend a couple of hours on didactics on wednesday evening. Fracture conference on wednesday morning is very brief and only covers Fxs seen at the heights. This program rotates a ton of people, around 40-50 for 4 spots so competition is stiff. There are too many changes as of this time to render a definite impression.

St Vincent Mercy, Toledo OH
Smartest and hardest working residents I saw at any program. These guys really know their shit and really work hard. Spend all their time at St Vs which is a level 1 trauma except for a 4 month block at Toledo hospital in 3rd year for peds and the entire 4th year is spent out. This program is all about board scores, you don't have them, don't bother. Program director specifically said that its 85% board scores and 15% intangibles when he picks his residents. They make a list from highest to lowest board scores and then cross off people they did not like. Usually only rank 3 students - those who verbally committed to them. I think this is a must-rotate program for anyone who has a 650+ as that will put you pretty high on their list. Keep your mouth shut, work hard, don't annoy anyone, and you'll match here if you did well on the boards. They don't care about two weeks versus four weeks, so a two weeker is optimal to rotate. In my opinion, this is one of the best programs out there, MD or DO. I am willing to bet that these guys know just as much as residents from top academic programs, if not more, and are even better surgeons than those at top MD programs because they operate from day one.

Pros: Level 1 trauma center in inner city so it's intense. Residents get to operate a ton, though not as much as Harrisburg or Chicago. Residents are very proficient at operating, 3rd years here were the best I saw at any program, didn’t get to work with 4th years as they were away. Chiefs were running their own rooms. Attendings don't even scrub most of the time, so it's usually a senior and a junior doing the case together. Didactics are awesome. These guys are the most well-read residents I saw anywhere. Seniors push juniors and interns hard, Miller review monday mornings, Journal club multiple days a week, trauma conference on thursday covering Fxs, OITE reviews. One of the residents here scored highest in the country on OITE last year. Resident run program with very little direction from the attendings, except for PD and a trauma guy. Clinic on mondays where residents see and treat patients. Dr. Jaeblon is the PD, great guy, very much old school in your face kind of a person. Treats his residents like his sons, this is family like atmosphere here. Great camaraderie amongst residents, they are hanging out all the time, all great guys, very humble and down to earth for how smart and well-read they are.

Cons: Lifestyle and location. Toledo is not the best place to live. Lifestyle at this program is terrible. These guys work extremely hard from top to bottom. Interns on service take 8 days of call, and are required to take 4 days of call off service. Seniors show up early here and leave late, I think that puts more pressure on juniors to work even harder. Interns not on service consistently show up to help with rounds and surgery. And it doesn't end there because you are expected to read once you leave the hospital. All in all, you will work your ass off if you match at this program, not a bad thing but something to think about if you have a family. Gals have no chance here at all. Rotated too many students this year unlike previous years which I felt was unfair. Hung up on board scores way too much, to the point of being ridiculous. what’s the difference between a 715 and a 690? probably a question or two on a given day, but you better believe that they’ll be calling the guy with a 715 , asking him to commit before they call the guy with a 690.

Pinnacle Health, Harrisburg PA:
Ortho bootcamp, it doesn’t feel like you’re auditioning until you get to this place. I was pimped within my first 30 mins here. This program is probably the most OR heavy program, MD or DO. Case load is just ridiculous. The efficiency with which this place is run is amazing. 30-40 mins for a total joint with 10 minute turnover, just ridiculous. 30+ surgeons on staff, you work with those who are most vocal in resident selection. I scrubbed in over 30 cases in just a week and 100+ over my 4 weeks – I don’t think I scrubbed in more than 20 cases anywhere else! Program Director is a good guy, residents are mostly good guys, couple of seniors were intense. Most attendings are good guys, only a couple that are malignant. You get pimped pretty hard on this rotation, I was asked many questions that were definitely not level appropriate, but I learned a ton. Split time between Community Osteopathic and Harrisburg Hospital, but mostly at Community. Go to Hershey, which is a 10 min drive, for peds, trauma, and tumor. Atlanta for a 4 month block of peds in 4th year. Emphasis on boards is not clear, some residents have very high scores, others scored about average. It seemed that they took guys who knew the most and worked the hardest. Definitely one of the top DO Ortho programs.

Pros: You will do twice as many cases than any other program at this place. One of the chiefs here had already logged over 3000 cases in 4 years. For comparison, my friend at a top MD program told me their seniors graduate with between 1500-1800 cases and they operate more than most MD programs, some food for thought. Most attendings are general guys but are very proficient. They do a ton of joints and sports cases here. Spine is also big, with all general guys doing spine. Residents are paired with different attendings each month. 1 resident for 2 attendings. So as a Junior, you won’t have seniors taking your cases, it’s just you and the attending. Didactics are strong, lecture every morning, Monday evening is intense with seniors pimping the hell out of interns and juniors. Journal club every other week, Fx conference on Friday mornings. You will graduate as a very proficient surgeon just because of the sheer number of cases you will have done.

Cons: Most days are exhausting as you’re in the OR with literally no downtime at all. 7-8 cases a day is pretty much the norm here. Residents here are well read and smart but pretty cocky, unlike Toledo. Couple of seniors were malignant at times. They pimp you hard here and basically shame you into learning and reading, if that’s your style, great, if not then it will seem malignant. Another program where they work very hard, interns not on service coming in to help with rounds and consults. Not enough clinic time, which could be a pro if you like operating a lot. Weak in trauma at the base hospital, but get enough exposure during their rotation at Hershey. Felt bad for any gals rotating here as they have no chance, rotate too many students, 80 or so this year.

Henry Ford Macomb, Clinton Township MI
Not a lot of information about this program out there but this program is a hidden gem. This program was based out of bicounty hospital in Warren which closed earlier this year. The program has since moved to Clinton Township at Macomb hospital. IMO, program has become much stronger since the move and will continue to get better. Henry Ford Macomb is a level II trauma center so plenty of stuff to go around. 22 surgeons on staff and you take trauma call with all of them. About 10 primary trainers including a Joints guy, two shoulder guys, a sports guy, a spine guy, and a hand guy. Program director, Fremont Scott, good guy, kind of quiet and doesn’t interact with students too much. Many young attendings, with a few old ones. Best residents out of any program! No malignant personalities at this program. Go to Grady in Atlanta for trauma, Cinci for peds, only two out-rotations. Rest of the stuff is all in town. Historically not boards heavy, but that’s changing. Took a guy last year with 750+. Not a gunning heavy rotation, not much you can do to gun here except to show up on time, and stay out of residents way. Pimping is intense at times but in a very non-malignant way. They pick residents based off personalities. You can see that by meeting the residents, all good guys.

Pros: Definitely the most laid back program out there. Young attendings that care a lot about resident teaching, very enthusiastic. Residents are great, extremely friendly. Smart guys but extremely humble. A lot of operating experience. Seniors reaching around 2200-2500 cases. Operate from day 1. Definitely more of a lifestyle program than some other programs out there. No in house call. They get their work done very efficiently here and get out of the hospital at a very reasonable time. Didactics are solid, OITE reviews monday and friday morning. Trauma conference friday morning. Residents go downtown on wednesday mornings to meet with other residents in MI and have a combined didactic session. Chiefs very proficient. One of the 3rd years here was probably the best 3rd year resident I saw anywhere in terms of his skills and knowledge. Lots of sports and joints, plenty of hand and spine. Not as much spine as Harrisburg though. Adequate trauma as it is level II trauma center. Two shoulder wizards here, Schoch and Bishai, just ballers. Just a great program, and IMO is a hidden gem and truly a top program.

Cons: Little disorganized as they just moved their base hospitals. Should probably take 3 residents now instead of two as their workload has increased significantly. Some tension between a few attendings but it has no effect on residents. No free food for residents.