Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
The staff is great. Dr M, the program director, is great to work with and really a inspirational kind of guy. The majority of the other attendings are very approachable and hilarious to work with.
Didactics / Teaching
Good overall didactics with monthly journal club, daily AM OITE review, anatomy labs, and access to top notch research.
Operating Experience
Phenomenal! The graduating chief last year had almost 800 cases in just that year alone. Most of the residents average between 500-700 cases a year (per a presentation given during our interview) and all subspecialities except tumor and peds are in house. Trauma is also solid with two fellowship trained trauma docs and out rotations at Indianapolis for Trauma, and Cincinatti for Peds.
Clinic Experience
Also good, residents do every Wednesday afternoon as a clinic day and average about 15-20 patients with the resident directing all the care.
Research Opportunities
Excellent. Plenty of research potential with Dr. Cholewicki from Yale and the program director is very supportive of research. Also on-site biomechanics lab and active collaboration with MSU radiology, medical, and veterinary schools.
Residents
Good group of residents. Most are fun to work with and all seem to get along well. From what I've seen most land top-notch fellowships: Trauma at Indy, Joints at Cleveland Clinic, Trauma at UCLA, etc.
Lifestyle
Good for a community program. Most residents are married but this program is located in Lansing which is the largest university in Michigan. The city is between 100-200K with plenty to do and access to great music.
Location / Housing
Cheap - Michigan as a state is in an economic down turn and housing is inexpensive and easy to find. Alot of the residents own a home and there is a plether of homes for sale in the area.
Limitations
the only limitations that I could percieve are the paucity of research experiences available and/or location. But, I am not really looking for a very research heavy program and I love outdoor activities so this place will rank highly.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Excellent. This program has you operate early and often with exposure to multiple orthopaedic sub-specialities. The PD is amazing and truly is a visionary who places a high value on resident education. The other residents are mostly cool to work with. And if research is your thing than this program boasts the most dedicated and fun research team to work with. Overall if you match to this program you will have great opportunities in academic or community medicine.
