Orthopedic Residency Curriculum

The curriculum consists of 300 hours of didactic and hands-on content. We present the didactic content in modules with quizzes following each module:

  1. Shared Curriculum with other MUSC Residents (Evidence-Based Practice, Statistics, Ethics, Teaching and Learning, Motor Learning, Leadership, Gait/Orthotics)
  2. Spine
  3. Upper Quarter
  4. Lower Quarter
  5. Self-Paced (Nutrition, Imaging, Cardiopulmonary)

In addition, residents translate evidence by presenting six case studies throughout the year and critically appraise evidence with journal club presentations for each body region. Residents are strongly encouraged to submit one of these case studies for publication at a state or national conference.

Mentoring

Each resident is mentored by an employee of the clinical partner, and involves at least 150 hours of 1:1 time together, 100 of which must be in patient care. Mentoring a resident is different than mentoring an entry level student, as many residents will enter the program with some degree of clinical experience. The resident-mentor relationship:

  • Is a partnership in which the mentor actively supports the professional growth and development of a resident
  • Is a reciprocal and evolutionary process
  • Challenges AND supports
  • Promotes knowledge translation (how does that gained knowledge relate to this patient situation today)?
  • Helps the resident integrate the knowledge – not the mentor’s responsibility to provide the knowledge
  • Teaches the resident how to learn so they can approach any future situation
  • Opens discussions of intention versus impact
  • Guides clinician to finding their own professional identity
  • Strives to provide just the right amount of challenge, just the right amount of support at the right time to obtain learning and professional growth
  • Promotes rapid transformation of research into clinical practice