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University of Missouri at Kansas City
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University of Missouri at Kansas City Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program
User reviews
2 reviews
Overall rating
6.2
Staff Surgeons
5.5(2)
Didactics/Teaching
7.5(2)
Operating Experience
6.5(2)
Clinical Experience
7.5(2)
Research
5.0(2)
Residents
6.0(2)
Lifestyle
6.0(2)
Location
6.0(2)
Overall Experience
6.0(2)
UMKC Resident
(Updated: December 12, 2011)
Overall rating
9.0
Staff Surgeons
9.0
Didactics/Teaching
10.0
Operating Experience
10.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
6.0
Residents
9.0
Lifestyle
9.0
Location
10.0
Overall Experience
9.0
Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
We have a new chairman, Dr. Evans, who is a dramatic change from our old Chairman, Dr. Hamilton. Evans is a resident advocate, seeks resident input on changes being made and implements them. The faculty are a strength of the program. We have a trauma guy at TMC and one at our private hospital who are both excellent teachers in and out of the OR. Our joints experience has always been good, but is now much better with Evans. We have an amazing sports experience at KCOI surgery center with some outstanding surgeons. Our foot and ankle guy is a resident advocate at our private hospital and an excellent teacher. We have adequate spine in adult and a lot in peds with some respected surgeons. Our peds experience is with a large and growing group of respected surgeons across the street from our base hospital and rivals any peds ortho experience in the country (maybe a little much at 9 months total). Our two main adult hand guys are excellent to work with. We do two tumor months at a different private hospital with an exceptional tumor guy in town. Our shoulder/elbow guy is now operating at a smaller branch of TMC in town, and we have a great rotation with him out there. We have one or two faculty that are not up to par with the rest, but the vast majority are great teachers, very approachable, actively interested in resident education.
Didactics / Teaching
We have one hour on Tuesday mornings, three on Thursday mornings and one every other Saturday morning. It's a mix of resident run didactics/grand rounds/sawbones/OITE study and attending/guest speaker run didactics. These sessions are very helpful. Our resident OITE prep sessions are usually excellent. Our monthly journal clubs rotate from specialty to specialty with the fellowship trained guys in that area running each session. I feel like the didactic portion of our program is very solid. We also have a two day lectureship each year with a banquet where a renown world expert in an orthopedic field is chosen and invited each year to come give a series of lectures and lead case discussions over two days. We do a one day version in a peds specialty area each year as well.
Operating Experience
We are in upper range of allowable surgical cases (yes the RRC has an upper recommended range not just a lower range) per resident. Operative experience varies from rotation to rotation. Second years are definitely getting into the OR regularly. There is a sports and shoulder/elbow rotation where the second years are at a smaller hospital everyday and operate a great deal. Second years operate less at our base hospital and are taking care of consults, etc. At our private hospital and childrens everybody operates 4 to 5 days per week mixing some clinic in. Third year and up are in the OR a lot at all our hospitals. We see everything in trauma from routine ankles to blown up (insert any joint or bone) from penetrating trauma or blunt trauma. Elective cases have the spectrum pretty well covered as well, and I honestly cannot think of anything I wish we got to do in the OR that we don't. At the private hospital you get good variation from day to day like when you're on joints or sports you do all the joints or scopes and then can jump in on any trauma, hand, foot and ankle or whatever you want and try to make it to clinic two half days per week.
Clinic Experience
We definitely get our day or two of clinic in at our base hospital, and the residents run the clinics with most attendings (soon to be all this summer when our old chair retires) immediately available in clinic. It's a very good experience having that much autonomy in clinic. At our private hospitals and peds we do about two half days per week, but OR takes precedence and they are very much attending run, but good observational experiences and great teaching from the attendings.
Research Opportunities
This would be our weak area. We do have plenty available for residents who want to publish a lot, especially at our children's hospital where there are several projects running all the time and attendings open to helping start a project at any given time. At our base hospital there is one attending really involved in research but he rarely invites resident to participate. Evans will likely get research going in infections soon. There is little research happening with resident involvement at our other private hospitals.
Residents
This would also be a strength. We're a group of mostly laid back guys and a couple of laid back girls who get along quite well. Most residents are very willing to step up and help each other out. We lack those residents who think they are the greatest thing ortho has ever seen (you'll find them elsewhere if you're looking). You can get done with a case and find another resident has written your orders for you or done your pre-op for your next case or seen the consult you were trying to get to.
Lifestyle
We stay under the 80 hours for the most part, and there are several rotations where we are well under. Call is home call, which is awesome and we do follow the rule to go home post call if we are in the hospital for 3 hours after 8pm. Home call allows us to stay the next day usually and see all our cases, which really helps our operative experience. Call is 6 to 7 per month as a junior and 3 to 4 as a senior with back-up call. We have long days at our base hospital, but we also have short days elsewhere from time to time. Most residents have families and are very involved in their kids' lives. You can definitely have a family and be just fine here.
Location / Housing
Kansas City is one of my favorite cities to live in thus far, and I've been around. It's very family friendly, very inexpensive and a good Midwest place to be. You can find anything you need here, and you don't have to take a taxi everywhere. Almost all residents have purchased a home because of low real estate prices.
Limitations
Research. If you want to publish several landmark articles as a resident, you should not come here. However, some residents have published some pretty good articles.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
I think I laid it out above. You leave here with a solid operative and clinical experience in orthopedic surgery. There are no real thin areas except maybe research as above. Most importantly, the drawbacks that have been laid out in previous evaluations and posts having to do with our chairman/program director are a non-issue especially come 7/2012.
Qualification
I am a current resident of this program.
Date of Rotation
2011
JC
John Campton
Top 100 Reviewer
Mediocre at Best
(Updated: December 12, 2011)
Overall rating
3.5
Staff Surgeons
2.0
Didactics/Teaching
5.0
Operating Experience
3.0
Clinical Experience
6.0
Research
4.0
Residents
3.0
Lifestyle
3.0
Location
2.0
Overall Experience
3.0
Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
The Chair and PD, Dr. Hamilton is the self-proclaimed "&*@hole you heard about Orthogate" (true quote from Dr. Hamilton.) He openly admits to degrading and socially humiliating residents on interview day. When I rotated at this program, several of the residents openly discussed how he makes the UMKC program miserable.
During the interview, he gives a well-known "fire-and-brimstone speech" where he discusses and defends his reputation. On my interview day, he also made a point to discuss why some of the residents may have "less than good things" to say about him. I found it very odd that he would take time out of the interview day to defend his reputation from what Orthogate and his residents say about him.
During the interview, he gives a well-known "fire-and-brimstone speech" where he discusses and defends his reputation. On my interview day, he also made a point to discuss why some of the residents may have "less than good things" to say about him. I found it very odd that he would take time out of the interview day to defend his reputation from what Orthogate and his residents say about him.
Didactics / Teaching
There are regular didactic sessions in the AM. They are from a variety of staff and are typically fairly good. There is also a weekly anatomy pimp session given by Dr. Hamilton
Operating Experience
I spent most of my time at Truman Medical Center. Depending on what service you are on, residents spent from 40% to 70% of their day in the clinic, leaving much less time for OR time. The program has a graded level of surgical exposure with most of the surgical training coming later in residency. I also spent some time at St. Lukes, where residents got much more OR exposure and more hands-on training.
Clinic Experience
At least at Truman, where Dr. Hamilton works, residents are the ones primarily responsible for clinic. At least 50% of the time, the clinic was ran solely by residents, with no overseeing attendings present.
Residents
The residents are all hard-workers and nice guys, but many are openly not happy being at the program. When I asked what they thought about this program, the responses varied from "do not even rank this place" to "it's not that bad" & "you get used to it".
Lifestyle
The lifestyle at Truman is grueling. Being that it is Kansas City's community hospital, the facilities are not well kept, the ORs are old, and the patients are mostly uninsured or medicaid, which makes for difficult patients. The call schedule is 8 per month, but they do allow for home call. St. Lukes is much nicer, with better attendings, patients, and facilities. The concensus when I rotated was that most residents were openly unhappy being at this program. They felt they were not treated with respect, that the facilities were sub-par, and the work hours were rough.
Location / Housing
Kansas City is a moderate-sized city. Truman Medical Center is located downtown near one of the worst ghettos in town, but St. Lukes is located close to the Country Club Plaza, a fluential area of town.
Limitations
Dr. Hamilton openly makes life tough on the residents. At times, some of the knowledge from attendings is out-dated. Much of the training is done in a community hospital with difficult patients and old facilities.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
The plus is that this program leaves spots open for re-applicants.
However, the residents were unhappy, much of my time was spent in clinic, and the program director felt it was necessary to justify his reputation on Orthogate and among his residents at the interview day.
I took the advice of several residents and did not rank this program.
However, the residents were unhappy, much of my time was spent in clinic, and the program director felt it was necessary to justify his reputation on Orthogate and among his residents at the interview day.
I took the advice of several residents and did not rank this program.
Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation
2009
SS
Steven Segal
Top 500 Reviewer
Contact Information
City
Kansas City
State/Province
Missouri
Program Information
Residents per class
4
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