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Washington University/B-JH/SLCH Consortium
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Washington University/B-JH/SLCH Consortium Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program
User reviews
2 reviews
Overall rating
9.1
Staff Surgeons
10.0(2)
Didactics/Teaching
10.0(2)
Operating Experience
8.5(2)
Clinical Experience
9.5(2)
Research
10.0(2)
Residents
9.0(2)
Lifestyle
7.5(2)
Location
7.5(2)
Overall Experience
9.5(2)
WashU
(Updated: January 30, 2013)
Overall rating
9.1
Staff Surgeons
10.0
Didactics/Teaching
10.0
Operating Experience
9.0
Clinical Experience
10.0
Research
10.0
Residents
9.0
Lifestyle
7.0
Location
7.0
Overall Experience
10.0
Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
The chairman Dr Gelberman was very nice. He is dedicated to this being a top program for years to come and has turned down many other chairman positions elsewhere. The faculty is a who's who of ortho with great mentors in every field. I was impressed with the camaraderie between the residents and the staff as well, everyone seemed very happy here.
Didactics / Teaching
Top notch, have and impressive core curriculum and have dedicated didactics Tue-Thurs run by faculty and then grand rounds on Wednesday after lecture. Specialty conferences are Mondays and/or Fridays depending on the service. All were very good and well attended by staff who gave their own clinical pearls. Also, the ORs are not open during resident didactic time, so it's not as if Attendings are off doing cases while residents are in didactics.
Operating Experience
I though this was another strength of the program. The residents were well versed on the science/biomechanics behind the procedures they were doing as well as the technical aspects of doing them. On one of my teams it was a PGY3 and an attending. The PGY3 did almost every case skin to skin with the attending assisting. I actually saw fellows assisting residents. The program director emphasized that their first priority was to their residents.
Clinic Experience
Pretty standard, maybe 40% of the time is spent in clinic on services other than Trauma. Generally residents saw the patients and presented to attendings. Residents were expected to know management and from what I could see were pretty knowledgeable. Night float and trauma services make it so that you can handle anything that comes into the ER by the end of PGY2, and the ER is a pretty busy level 1 trauma center.
Research Opportunities
Tons of opportunities, good clinical research going on in all departments, and tons of basic science opportunities. There are 9 PhD staff and they are recruiting 3 more and they are all moving into brand new lab facilities soon. Three months of protected time for research (1 PGY2 and 2 PGY3) in which you are expected to complete a reasonably substantial project. Most residents do clinical but there was some basic science. Can do a year if that's your cup of tea.
Residents
Cool bunch of guys and gals that seemed to work hard, but liked to have fun and were fun to be around. A good group. Seem to get along really well with staff creating a very collegial atmosphere.
Lifestyle
They work hard on certain services (Trauma and night float especially) but have an easier time on rotations like sports and hand. Pretty standard I think.
Location / Housing
St Louis was actually nicer than I though. The central west end was nice and Forest park was beautiful. Certainly not New York, but a very nice city and not everyone is looking to live in a metropolis. Gets HOT in the summer but winter isnt bad. Rent can eb a little steep in walking distance to BJH but is very affordable overall.
Limitations
A very well rounded experience. I really can't think of many limitations. Some say that it is stuffy here, but I did not see that at all on my rotation. It seemed that the residents and attendings got along fabulously.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Had an awesome experience and will likely rank it very high, if not number 1.
Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation
Fall 2010
JW
James Wylie
Top 50 Reviewer
Wash U Review
(Updated: October 23, 2007)
Overall rating
9.0
Staff Surgeons
10.0
Didactics/Teaching
10.0
Operating Experience
8.0
Clinical Experience
9.0
Research
10.0
Residents
9.0
Lifestyle
8.0
Location
8.0
Overall Experience
9.0
Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Dr. Gelberman, the chairman, has set out to make this one of the best programs in the country. He is a very agressive leader in the field, former AAOS president, and very serious about research and raising the next generation of leaders in the field of orthopedics. He has surrounded himself with an outstanding staff who are also leaders in their respective fields, have diverse personalities and are dedicated to resident education. Truly an outstanding group to learn from.
Didactics / Teaching
One of the main strengths. Faculty run didactics 3 days/week. High quality lectures. Expect residents to know their stuff but not in a malignant way. Wonderful facilities/conferece rooms. Brand new $250,000 audiovisual system installed at new outpatient center so residents can participate without having to commute from the main hospital in the "central west end" neightborhood to the outpatient center in Chesterfield (20 min away).
Operating Experience
People have said operative experience can be "late" at Wash U. I think this is somewhat true but they have moved to a mentorship system which will probably build more trust and improve upon the operative experience.
Clinic Experience
Wonderful facilities/clinics (new, beautiful, state of the art). This program is VERY well rounded and while we all want to be surgeons, they do spend 40-50% of their time in clinic which is probably a plus especially in the ever-more specialized world of orthopedics (meaning most people will do fellowships so it's important to be a good clinician and know when to operate and when not to operate). Teaching was excellent during clinic. Volume of patients was high but attendings found time to provide pearls about specific cases.
Research Opportunities
It's a powerhouse. There is so much money at this institution and as we know, Wash U in general, is a mecca for medical research. Ortho is no exception. You will have plenty to choose from both in the realm of basic science and clinical research. This program will get you on your way to an academic career or provide the community bound surgeon with some nice high quality research which will stimulate life long learning.
Residents
Some words that come to mind: diverse, intellegent, collegial, supportive. This is a diverse group in terms of ethnicity, gender, race, med school, educational background, marital status and I think it's a real strength. I found the residents to be very friendly and people I could see myself working with. It's a nice variety.
Lifestyle
A lot is expected of the residents but I'd say lifestyle is on par with the national average.
Location / Housing
Some people are scared to spend 5 years in St. Louis but I think it's a great town with a mix of big city and small town components. It has the biggest city park in the country which is awesome for outdoor stuff and concerts. Speaking of warmer months, St. Louis is actually more mild than a lot of the northern states in the US which could also be viewed as a plus. Sports and culture are great. Crime seems to be somewhat of a problem though (getting cars broken into). I guess you just have to be careful in certain areas. Overall though, this hospital and university have really energized this city in the last several years and St. Louis is a VERY livable place especially for such a great residency program.
Limitations
As I discussed, late operative experience which is being addressed, average lifestyle (residents expected to "work hard" but when are you not?), and lastly it's not NY, LA, or Chicago, but in my opinion still very very livable.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
Truly an academic atmosphere at one of the most esteemed medical centers in the country. Faculty-leaders who are "big names" and who are also dedicated to teaching and creating new leaders. Amazing facilities. World renowned hand, shoulder/elbow, spine with a smattering of "big names" in all other specialties. They are working on improving sports and joints which are still very strong as they are. The new outpatient center opened this past summer and everything is state of the art. Barnes Jewish Hospital is a mecca and the ortho department floors are amazing. Beautiful clinics, conference rooms, arthroscopy lab. This is well accepted as a top 5 academic program and like someone else said in a previous post, Wash U can be compared but can't be beat. This is a very desireable and sought after program.
Qualification
I rotated as a medical student at this program
Date of Rotation
2007
JT
Jim Thompson
Top 50 Reviewer
Contact Information
City
St Louis
State/Province
Missouri
Program Information
Residents per class
6
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