Program Review
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Staff / Faculty / Chairman
Chairman: Dr. Glassman is the Dept. Chair. He has a long history in total joint arthroplasty and is well-known in that world. He will stand behind residents who leave a good impression and go to bat for them. He is also a very funny guy but that's less relevant.
PD: Dr. Scharschmidt just stepped up to take over for Dr. Mayerson, who was PD for a while and now took another leadership position in the hospital. He has a fantastic personality for a PD, and I'm sure the program will continue in the right direction under his leadership. He cares about resident education, is very down-to-earth and approachable.
Staff: Strong in basically every subspecialty. Foot/Ankle is not the largest department, but Dr. Groth and Dr. Alexander are both excellent teachers and surgeons. Hand is very strong, with a young, dynamic faculty and tons of cases. They match very well for fellowship in several specialties. Recon, tumor, sports, and shoulder are other strong suits of this program. Pediatrics is done at NCH and that's also a very robust experience. Trauma is a department that was recently reogranized - it is growing and faced some growing pains but is getting there. Spine has recently improved as well, if you're into that kind of thing.
Didactics / Teaching
Weekly didactics on Fridays taught mostly by attendings. Didactics include everything from lectures to Jeopardy sessions the hand faculty occasionally run. They are OITE/ABOS focused. As the OITE approaches, there are also weekly sessions for peer study where they will go over old tests. This is a program that typically does quite well on the OITE, and the graduates do well on ABOS Part 1, and a big part of that is the didactics.
There's also a summer anatomy course run by the senior residents each summer. It's a great experience, especially for visual learners.
Operating Experience
This program does a great job of getting you in the OR and getting you used to operating. As the PGY2 on Trauma, you will be expected to rapidly build up your skills and be able to handle tibial nailings, hip fractures, ORIF etc. The chief will often run the junior through a case with the attending supervising. It's not easy to hide if your skills aren't up to par. You will be exposed if that's the case (but you will improve).
The residents at this program used to also rotate at Riverside, a nearby community type level 2 trauma center that belongs to a competing hospital system, which is basically Intertroch Central, but they no longer do, and will now rely upon the trauma volume at their OSU East Hospital. It is still TBD if this will be an adequate "replacement," even though that's not what it's being billed as.
They have been experimenting with a chief year elective rotation. That's not something many programs have, and is a big bonus if you can get it... just like moonlighting, which is available as well.
Clinic Experience
Clinic experience is what you need it to be. You will learn how to evaluate and examine patients but you are not going to feel like you are being used as cheap labor. Good balance.
Research Opportunities
There's a strong research machine at OSU for those who are interested. They also have a dedicated research resident each year who takes a year off and does research exclusively (this may be subject to change). They've got a coordinator who will help you along the way and tons of different departments in everything from engineering to veterinary that can collaborate with you to do bench or clinical work.
Residents
The residents are mostly a solid and tight-knit group. They tend to get along well and be hard workers. The program mostly attracts residents from the mid-west, especially historically, but they have recently had both east and west coasters, as well as southerners, come through the program and do well. Recon, Sports, Hand, are popular choices for sub specializing, and most residents do fellowships after this program.
Lifestyle
Especially as a senior resident, the lifestyle in this program is top-notch. You will have busy days and nights, but by and large the call pool is broad enough that you aren't overly stretched and things are pretty easy to cover. If a resident goes out of town, or goes to a conference, or has a baby or something, things don't fall apart. Generally, there is someone available to cover. The hospital does not rely on the residents for necessary day to day functions, and will not collapse in their absence. Proof: on interview days, over half the residents typically make it over to meet with the applicants and spend a few hours at least hanging out and discussing the program. Cases still get done. Patients still get taken care of.
Location / Housing
If you are looking to be in LA, Miami, Chicago, Philly, or NYC... this is not that. But Columbus is great in its own way. Do you want to be working resident hours in a giant city like LA with crazy traffic where it can take you 45 minutes to get home... or in Columbus where your commute is 13 minutes... every day...? Up to you.
Also, Columbus is extremely affordable, compared to all those other cities. For most average med school graduates that's a big positive.
There are loads of things to do in Columbus and its worth checking out if you are the kind of person who can afford to spend 5 years in the Midwest
Limitations
If you want to call it a limitation: this is not the type of program that will just let you coast and slide through residency if you are not performing as well as you should be. They will demand your best. They will want you to continue to improve. If you are dogging it, you will be called out. And if it comes to it, they will rather make you repeat a year, or even let you go than to continue to promote you and graduate you if they feel you don't have what it takes.
In my eyes that's a good thing, because first of all who doesn't need a little encouragement to do their best? But also, FWIW it ensures that your program's reputation will be solid and not marred by a weak resident who slipped through the cracks.
Overall Rotation Experience / Conclusion
The residency has recently grown from 5 per year to 6 per year. The ACGME recognized its strength after some recent site visits. The program was on probation a number of years back but it has moved very far in a positive direction since then. I would recommend this program without hesitation to anybody who wants to be driven to become the best surgeon they can be, in a very livable and affordable city. There's really something for everyone here, not really any significant weak points. The one thing that's kind of up in the air is how the trauma experience will evolve in the next few years.
If you want to go to this program, rotate here as a med student and CRUSH it on your away. That means work hard. Volunteer to help with whatever. Don't complain. Don't ask to go home. Read before cases. Be a team player. Pay attention. Commit fully to it. This should be true anywhere you go, but the residents here have a lot of say in the selection process so you want to make sure you're putting your best foot forward with them. If they don't like you, your chances to match may drop precipitously.
