2024 - 2025 Orthopaedic Research Fellowship at Virginia Tech Carilion

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Carilion Clinic is accepting applications for (3) Research Fellow positions for the academic year 2024-25. 

The research fellowship is a developmental position, intended to teach the fellow the fundamentals of orthopaedic research and provide mentorship from practicing academic orthopaedic surgeons and orthopaedic researchers. The fellowship is structured as a minimum 1-year fellowship with a 2nd year available for the candidate who requests or requires an additional year. This fellowship is an excellent time for productivity, maturation and development and consequently a second year is often recommended.  

 The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Carilion Clinic is the largest orthopaedic department in the state with 47 physicians covering 11 sites including a level 1 adult/pediatric trauma center.  The Musculoskeletal Education and Research Center (MERC) serves as the research arm of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  The Department has successfully placed several prior MERC research fellows into orthopaedic residencies, with 3 fellows participating in the Match for 2024. 

This position is a paid full-time research position through Carilion Clinic in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery with a competitive salary that allows for reasonable living in Roanoke, VA. 
 
Applicants are expected to be motivated for a career in orthopaedic surgery and should be otherwise strongly competitive for orthopaedic surgery residency aside from a lack of prior research experience.
 
A formal research curriculum is administered by the Ph.D and M.D, Ph.D. faculty.  This starts early and continues over the course of the fellowship.  
 
Candidates will be selected based on personal attributes, including work ethic, motivation for orthopaedic surgery and the likelihood of future success in the Match.  
 
At the time of starting, candidates are required to have been awarded a degree from an LCME-accredited U.S. medical school (or offered a deferment of graduation having fully completed the medical school curriculum) and have no prior GME experience. To assess competitiveness for eventual entry into orthopaedic surgery residency, candidates must submit USMLE score transcripts, medical school transcripts and letters of recommendation (or references). At this time, non-US medical school graduates and candidates with any prior GME experience (any clinical internship or residency) cannot not be considered.  
 
Carilion Clinic – Virginia Tech Carilion (CC-VTC) does have an orthopaedic residency and while this fellowship is housed in the same department, the research fellowship is unlinked from the residency and completion of the fellowship is not a promise or guarantee of admission into the CC-VTC residency. 
 
The research fellowship program director is Peter J. Apel, MD, PhD.  Inquiries should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Recruitment will begin after 9:00 AM on Monday March 11th. Based on prior years' timelines, the positions are expected to fill by the end of the week (Friday, March 15th). Positions will be offered on a rolling basis. Candidates who accept this research fellowship position will be asked to cease pursuits of other positions upon acceptance. 

Please visit our department’s website at: https://www.carilionclinic.org/ortho. There are several videos available there that highlight clinical cases from our department.

 Here are 4 videos that highlight the research in our department:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGra6tSYFm0&list=PLgxccdKEkOfJthv_lyN4nDrF-8UjvhevH

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MFMQntULx8&t=26s

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyMleSQIA14

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CthmtKKXOgw&list=PLgxccdKEkOfJthv_lyN4nDrF-8UjvhevH&index=8

 Here is the YouTube Channel for Orthopaedic Education. Here you will find several of our clinical educational videos:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMBgbPp1q70j8vUQMB5tRmw

Also here is a video about Roanoke that you may find informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFf-flGHYIw&list=WL&index=2

 Lastly, here is a video about the growth of Virginia Tech Carilion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME0GWPeQIA4

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Peter J. Apel, MD PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Institute for Orthopaedics and Neurosciences
2331 Franklin Rd SW
Roanoke, VA 24014
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.