The Adult Reconstruction Fellowship Program serves to provide appropriate training to individuals interested in the field of hip and knee surgery through the University of Minnesota's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Goal
Successful individuals would be invited to join the Adult Reconstruction Service for a period of one year following completion of a recognized training program in orthopaedic surgery. The goal of the program is to introduce the fellows to clinical, research and didactic material, so that they will be prepared to carry out complex, analytical and technically demanding processes relevant to the areas of hip and knee surgery. One must keep in mind that there is no unanimity of opinion about how to treat disorders of the hip and knee joint. Therefore, the fellowship has been critically reviewed to bring together the most useful and up-to-date information to each individual undertaking this endeavor.
Brief Description
This twelve-month fellowship, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), consists of two six-month rotations at both the University of Minnesota Medical Center (UMMC) and the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). Each rotation involves time in the outpatient clinic and operating room devoted to patient care responsibilities. Time is reserved for research obligations as well. The case mix at each site involves the entire spectrum of reconstructive procedures. However, there is an emphasis in complex revision arthroplasty, reconstruction after tumor resection, treatment of infected prostheses and osteonecrosis at the UMMC site and primary hip/knee arthroplasty at the VAMC site. A requirement for graduation from the program is completion of a research project and publication submission.
Fellowship Objective Requirements
Three-Month Mark
From the academic perspective, the fellow should be able to carry out a comprehensive history and physical examination pertaining to the lower extremity. At that point, the fellow should be able to carry out extensile exposures to expose the hip and the knee. The fellow should be familiar with removal of the components, which would require cement removal and debridement of the host bed to stable bony surfaces. From the research perspective, the fellow should have decided on a specific project. A methodological plan should have been outlined and reviewed with the supervisor of his/her project.
Six-Month Mark
At the academic level, the fellow should be comfortable working up a patient with a painfil or failed hip or knee arthroplasty. Intraoperativeiy, the fellow should be able to evaluate and assess the intraoperative findings, including soft tissue tension, bony defects and potential reconstructive options. At the research level, the fellow should be collecting data for his/her project.
Nine-Month Mark
The fellow should be capable of devising an operative plan for various failed implants. Intraoperatively, the fellow should be able to reconstruct the bony deficiencies and augment bony defects with autogenous or metallic options. At the research level, the fellow should be analyzing the data and summarizing it in a format that is able to be interpreted scientifically.
Twelve Month Mark
By the fourth period, the fellow should be comfortable carrying out a complex rehabilitation plan for revision hip and knee procedures. S/He should be competent to deal with potential complications. At the technical level, the fellow should be comfortable dealing with periprosthetic fractures and infected implants. From the research perspective, the fellow should be writing out the results in the form, of a manuscript for submission.