Department of
Surgery

Orthopaedic Surgery

Aims

  1. To become familiar with the recognition, natural history, and general and specific treatment of those orthopedic conditions that one would expect to encounter in a surgery practice in a community lacking the immediate availability of an orthopedic surgeon.
  2. To familiarize oneself with the pathophysiology of orthopedic conditions, and the response of a patient to the various orthopedic problems.

Clinical Skills

Given a patient with a orthopedic disease, the clerk will be able to do the following to the satisfaction of his/her supervisor(s):

  • Take a relevant history.
  • Perform an acceptable physical exam concentrating on the relevant areas.
  • Arrive at an appropriate differential diagnosis.

At the end of the rotation, the student should be able to:

  1. Perform a musculoskeletal history and physical exam with the appropriate evaluation of the neurovascular components.
  2. Development an understanding and management plan for the common referrals to the orthopedic specialty clinic. These include neck, back, and hip and knee pain.
  3. Master the critical perioperative management skills that cross-surgical specialties (i.e., prevent/recognition of DVT/PE, fever work-up, fluid management, anesthetic concerns).
  4. Understand the principles of fracture management
  5. Become familiar with basic orthopedic terminology (i.e., varus/valgus, ROM measurements, etc.)
  6. Understand the principles of casting and cast management.
  7. Participate fully in the wards, clinics and operating room
  8. Know and understand the answers to the brief Basic Competency Examination in Musculoskeletal Medicine (25 questions)*

*This is a test that has gone through validation and then rank listing for importance by the collective Orthopedic Chairpersons across the country. It was reported in JBJS, vol. 80A, No. 10, October 1998 by Freedman and Bernstein of U. Penn. The original article will be provided to the clerks.