Osteopathic Orthopedic Surgery Residency Reviews

[DNC127]

Anybody have any experiences of programs that allow 2 weeks auditions and it working out?

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[OrthoDO123]

Program: Northwell Health's Plainview Hospital

General: One of the first DO programs to get ACGME accreditation. There are four major sites of the program: Plainview, Huntington, Valley Stream, and Northshore. Plainview is considered the home base and you spend most of your time here as a pgy-1, but not much as 2-5. As a 2-5 you primarily rotate through Huntington, Valley Stream, and Northshore. Huntington is a busy level 2 with good trauma and elective cases. Valley stream just had a huge renovation and has become the main surgical site for the Orlin and Cohen group, so less trauma but great attendings and elective cases. Northshore is a level 1 trauma center with some great trauma. Main sites are a little spread out but allows for some great surgical experiences.

Attendings:10/10. Probably one of the highlights of the program. As you get to work at some of the major sites in the Northwell network, you get to work with some great attendings. Giles Scuderi is a huge name in the joints literature and invented the Zimmer knees. Stanley Asnis is a big name in joints and was instrumental in cannulated hip screws. Sgaglione is a huge name in sports. The list goes on and on. Each site has either Northwell attendings or private groups that you work with.

Residents: 9/10. If you look at past posts, this program has a history of being malignant. This is no longer the case. The group of residents currently there are super tight, down to earth and normal. It's a pretty big program with 30 residents in total, but they definitely have the surgical volume to handle this number of residents. After ACGME accreditation they started taking MDs and have two classes that are split MD/DO (PGY-1 and PGY-2).

Didactics: 8/10. Some form of daily didactics with orthobullet questions or reviewing papers. Formal didactics are on Tuesdays with resident-led lectures and fracture conferences. Residents usually go to a bar down the street afterwards.

Operative Experience: 8/10. Good balance of big-wig outcome driven attending who teach you the procedure and community based surgeons who let you fly. Residents were on par with all other programs I went to.

Research: 8/10. With big wig attendings definitely comes research. Many of the residents have published and presented papers all over.

Lifestyle: 7/10. This is a busy program so you do work a ton, but that's what you want during residency. Sign out occurs sometime between 6 and 6:30. The interns and call person are expected to have rounded and completed their notes by then. After sign out there is usually some form of education with either going through papers or orthobullets. Formal didactics occur on Tuesdays in one block and comes in the form of resident-led education primarily by the 2's and 3's.

Pros:
- A large number of attendings many of whom are prestigious
- Access to Northwell facilities such as their research center etc
- Good fellowship matches
- Great location on Long Island
- Good mix of attendings
- No major out rotations, all rotations are on the island

Cons:
- Long Island Traffic

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Program: Northwell Health's Plainview Hospital

General: One of the first DO programs to get ACGME accreditation. There are four major sites of the program: Plainview, Huntington, Valley Stream, and Northshore. Plainview is considered the home base and you spend most of your time here as a pgy-1, but not much as 2-5. As a 2-5 you primarily rotate through Huntington, Valley Stream, and Northshore. Huntington is a busy level 2 with good trauma and elective cases. Valley stream just had a huge renovation and has become the main surgical site for the Orlin and Cohen group, so less trauma but great attendings and elective cases. Northshore is a level 1 trauma center with some great trauma. Main sites are a little spread out but allows for some great surgical experiences.

Attendings:10/10. Probably one of the highlights of the program. As you get to work at some of the major sites in the Northwell network, you get to work with some great attendings. Giles Scuderi is a huge name in the joints literature and invented the Zimmer knees. Stanley Asnis is a big name in joints and was instrumental in cannulated hip screws. Sgaglione is a huge name in sports. The list goes on and on. Each site has either Northwell attendings or private groups that you work with.

Residents: 9/10. If you look at past posts, this program has a history of being malignant. This is no longer the case. The group of residents currently there are super tight, down to earth and normal. It's a pretty big program with 30 residents in total, but they definitely have the surgical volume to handle this number of residents. After ACGME accreditation they started taking MDs and have two classes that are split MD/DO (PGY-1 and PGY-2).

Didactics: 8/10. Some form of daily didactics with orthobullet questions or reviewing papers. Formal didactics are on Tuesdays with resident-led lectures and fracture conferences. Residents usually go to a bar down the street afterwards.

Operative Experience: 8/10. Good balance of big-wig outcome driven attending who teach you the procedure and community based surgeons who let you fly. Residents were on par with all other programs I went to.

Research: 8/10. With big wig attendings definitely comes research. Many of the residents have published and presented papers all over.

Lifestyle: 7/10. This is a busy program so you do work a ton, but that's what you want during residency. Sign out occurs sometime between 6 and 6:30. The interns and call person are expected to have rounded and completed their notes by then. After sign out there is usually some form of education with either going through papers or orthobullets. Formal didactics occur on Tuesdays in one block and comes in the form of resident-led education primarily by the 2's and 3's.

Pros:
- A large number of attendings many of whom are prestigious
- Access to Northwell facilities such as their research center etc
- Good fellowship matches
- Great location on Long Island
- Good mix of attendings
- No major out rotations, all rotations are on the island

Cons:
- Long Island Traffic

Do you know if they favor NYCOM students?

 

[TheDumbAsian]

Any recent rotators/residents have input on the Michigan programs? Any bias for MSU students?
Specifically Mclaren-Lansing, Mclaren-Oakland, Mclaren-Macomb, and Genesys. Thanks

 

[The Tube Fairy]

Any updates on programs? Interested in information on Mclaren-Oakland, PCOM, Modesto, Grandview, South Pointe, Largo, and Pinnacle.

 

[DrMcLovin]

Wow, this is a very childish reaction to what I’m assuming was a poor rotation at this program. Hopefully that person knows program coordinators in other parts of the country so she can warn us.

Next time you are upset with a program I suggest speaking to them like an adult in order to determine what obviously went very wrong.

 

[SW0LDIER]

I would avoid McLaren Oakland. ... is racist, sexist, and verbally abusive. When she is upset, which is nearly all the time, she will threaten to kick you out of residency and make sure you never go anywhere else because medical directors in Michigan know each other.
1. The only positive thing about this hospital is that they are very flexible with residents struggling with alcohol and drugs. A graduate got a DUI as an intern, failed a drug test WHILE AT WORK, assaulted a coworker, and hoarded controlled substances prescribed to other patients in his locker (I don't think the board knew about the last one). They will adjust your call schedule so you can go to your AA, NA, and anger management meetings.
2. If you're related someone at the hospital you can get into any program you want. Who cares if you failed step 1 a few times as long as you're related to .. lap dog .... Here's the Ortho spot that should've gone to someone more qualified.
3. Not friendly toward residents of Middle Eastern deacent. After working a 30 hour shift my friend was clearly tired, but ... called him a terrorist and asked him if he was plotting to bomb the hospital. In front of patients.
4. This is not a safe place to work as a female. When a female resident was sexually harrassed by an attending, she made the mistake of telling her program director (instead of HR) who told .... .. told the resident if she told anyone she would "end her." She also told her to "stop being a w**** and keep her legs closed." The attending who groped her was promoted. There's also another attending who takes his residents to strip clubs.
5. If you're African American make sure you have thick skin. She throws around the word "n*****" around very causally.

I rotated there and had no such experience. I can't verify your story, but I can say that from personal experience I had a wonderful experience at that program and the residents I worked with were some of the nicest and most collegial individuals I met on the trail. I would have been very happy to match there. Not to mention they had a fantastic fellowship match list, decent volume, and a die-hard PD that would go to the end of the world and back for his residents and for the osteopathic profession in general.

 

[DarkHorizon]

I would avoid McLaren Oakland. ... is racist, sexist, and verbally abusive. When she is upset, which is nearly all the time, she will threaten to kick you out of residency and make sure you never go anywhere else because medical directors in Michigan know each other.
1. The only positive thing about this hospital is that they are very flexible with residents struggling with alcohol and drugs. A graduate got a DUI as an intern, failed a drug test WHILE AT WORK, assaulted a coworker, and hoarded controlled substances prescribed to other patients in his locker (I don't think the board knew about the last one). They will adjust your call schedule so you can go to your AA, NA, and anger management meetings.
2. If you're related someone at the hospital you can get into any program you want. Who cares if you failed step 1 a few times as long as you're related to .. lap dog .... Here's the Ortho spot that should've gone to someone more qualified.
3. Not friendly toward residents of Middle Eastern deacent. After working a 30 hour shift my friend was clearly tired, but ... called him a terrorist and asked him if he was plotting to bomb the hospital. In front of patients.
4. This is not a safe place to work as a female. When a female resident was sexually harrassed by an attending, she made the mistake of telling her program director (instead of HR) who told .... .. told the resident if she told anyone she would "end her." She also told her to "stop being a w**** and keep her legs closed." The attending who groped her was promoted. There's also another attending who takes his residents to strip clubs.
5. If you're African American make sure you have thick skin. She throws around the word "n*****" around very causally.

I trained in Michigan and had many friends who trained there. Never heard anything of that sort from anyone. They all seemed to like their experience.

It’s very poor form to malign an individual like this in a public forum.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

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[DarkHorizon]

I have back-to-back 2-week rotations coming up at McLaren Macomb and Beaumont-Farmington Hills. Would it be better to cancel one and turn one into a 4-weeker?

Yes, unless you’re absolutely awesome. In which case you can proceed.

 

[harvey1222]

I rotated there and had no such experience. I can't verify your story, but I can say that from personal experience I had a wonderful experience at that program and the residents I worked with were some of the nicest and most collegial individuals I met on the trail. I would have been very happy to match there. Not to mention they had a fantastic fellowship match list, decent volume, and a die-hard PD that would go to the end of the world and back for his residents and for the osteopathic profession in general.

Without giving away too many specifics, I rotated there and saw similar actions from this program. I wouldn’t go slut shaming them online but there is an environment not too far off of what that poster describes there.

 

[DarkHorizon]

Without giving away too many specifics, I rotated there and saw similar actions from this program. I wouldn’t go slut shaming them online but there is an environment not too far off of what that poster describes there.

There is a resident who’s related to one of the administrators. There was a previous resident who was related to a general surgeon. So I guess you can say that there’s some nepotism, which I agree is not professional. But they are not the only program in this predicament. I can point out pretty much every DO program that at some point has trained a legacy. Not saying it’s right, but it was a good ole boy system, and that’s that.

Everything else that was said is totally unwarranted, I have many friends who trained there and all liked their experience. The Program has trained many minorities, including middle eastern, south asian, and women, as far back as the nineties. Can you point out what any specifics?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Any information on McLaren Macomb?

 

[harvey1222]

There is a resident who’s related to one of the administrators. There was a previous resident who was related to a general surgeon. So I guess you can say that there’s some nepotism, which I agree is not professional. But they are not the only program in this predicament. I can point out pretty much every DO program that at some point has trained a legacy. Not saying it’s right, but it was a good ole boy system, and that’s that.

Everything else that was said is totally unwarranted, I have many friends who trained there and all liked their experience. The Program has trained many minorities, including middle eastern, south asian, and women, as far back as the nineties. Can you point out what any specifics?

Sorry, not willing to divulge specifics, I want to keep it professional. Good luck with everyone's upcoming cycle!

 

[TheDoctor66]

Any information on McLaren Macomb?

I rotated there in 2018 we only had 5-6 students on and still 1/2 of us spent the day in the library studying hoping something come up. I would normal attribute this to having too many students on and not enough doctors. However it seemed the residents themselves did not have much time in the OR as well. Most of them were done by early afternoon. It was apparent in one of their seniors at the time that he had not had enough operating experience as he struggled and was not adequately prepared for a fairly straight forward procedure. All of the attendings and residents were great to work with, but I would just be concerned on how prepared you would be coming out of residency.

 

[DNC127]

Anyone have info on south pointe?

 

[Thumpar]

I have an average COMLEX score (566) but an above average Step 1 score (243). Does anyone have an impression of how this would be viewed by Osteopathic ortho residencies?

 

[DNC127]

I rotated there in 2018 we only had 5-6 students on and still 1/2 of us spent the day in the library studying hoping something come up. I would normal attribute this to having too many students on and not enough doctors. However it seemed the residents themselves did not have much time in the OR as well. Most of them were done by early afternoon. It was apparent in one of their seniors at the time that he had not had enough operating experience as he struggled and was not adequately prepared for a fairly straight forward procedure. All of the attendings and residents were great to work with, but I would just be concerned on how prepared you would be coming out of residency.

My friend rotated there recently and said the same thing

 

[PhalloMegaly]

Program: Broward Health Medical Center. Ranked the program third. Ended up matching at a program in the NE.

Time: Late Summer

General: One of earlier osteopathic programs to get accreditation from ACGME. Take 3 residents every year. Rotations are done at multiple sites within the South Florida area from going north to Boca to south Miami at University of Miami for oncology. Had a great rotation while I was there. As a rotator depending on who the intern is will depend on how much autonomy you will get to do things. I know some of the earlier and later rotators from my school were unable to help due to hospital affiliation agreements.

Attendings:10/10. One of the biggest trauma attendings who is extremely well known in the south Florida area is the current associate program director. He takes on anything that comes his way. The attending was also trained in pediatrics and also does unique pediatric cases. PD did certain cases while I was there, but mostly for overwatching the interns being taught by the juniors. Another attending from the NYU who brings in a lot of their F&A cases who is extremely well known. The residents also work with a well known sports fellowship trained attending. For joints they head to Cleveland Clinic and work with very well known attendings there. I believe their oncology rotation is also done with the chairman of University of Miami. Overall their training is solid.

Residents: 9/10. The residents are close tight knit group. From my time not much of a "bro" feeling whatsoever. Everybody has the other persons back. A little bit of teasing and hazing going on for one of the PGY5s that was there heading to joints, but overall you definitely get the sense of camaraderie between the residents regardless if you're a PGY1 or a PGY5.

Didactics: 6/10. Weekly didactics were held of Wednesday afternoons going over questions from Orthobullets. Questions are asked starting from the PGY1s moving up to the seniors. Friday morning fracture conference was also done for roughly 2 hours going over cases during the week with the attendings pimping the residents on questions for the case.

Operative Experience: 10/10. I think this is where the program really shines. I saw some of the 1s going in and doing work directly with the attendings or working with the junior residents on certain cases. Trauma is one of the majority of the influx coming in as the residents.

Research: 2/10. Non-existant. Definitely one of the biggest pitfalls. I think the fellowship match could be better if this were enhanced. PGY5s when I was there went to Wake Forest and University of Minnesota for joints and hand, respectively. Good programs.

Lifestyle: 7/10. This is a busy program so you do work a ton, but that's what you want during residency. Sign out occurs sometime between 6 and 6:30. The interns and call person are expected to have rounded and completed their notes by then. Intern was getting in around 5:30 and not leaving until 7:30pm.

Pros:
- A large number of well known attendings the residents work with
- Early operative experience
- Cost of living is not bad
- Close to the beach
- Close knit group of residents

Cons:
- Research
- Don't publish fellowship match on the website
- South Florida heat

 

[throwaway28364]

I'm trying to decide between an audition rotation at Valley Hospital in Modesto and Jack Hughston. I have a USMLE score of 247 and low COMLEX 1 (536). With my board scores what would be the smarter place to audition at as they are both giving me the rotation in the same time frame. It will also be my first rotation in Ortho.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

I'm trying to decide between an audition rotation at Valley Hospital in Modesto and Jack Hughston. I have a USMLE score of 247 and low COMLEX 1 (536). With my board scores what would be the smarter place to audition at as they are both giving me the rotation in the same time frame. It will also be my first rotation in Ortho.

Are you applying for the upcoming cycle? You are just now starting auditions?

 

[bonedoc45]

Program: UPMC Pinnacle (Harrisburg, PA)

Time: Summer/Fall, 4 week rotation

General: Overall, my favorite rotation of fourth year. Solid group of guys and gals with a great, diverse group of fellowship/generalist attendings. As a student, your rotation is split between 3 main hospitals. You also get time in the attendings office hours and resident run clinic. I never had to double scrub another case with a student and there was ample time for “face time” with residents/attendings. I feel like the residents take a genuine interest in learning about the students (where are you from, what do you like to do outside of work, etc…) and made me feel part of the team. I have heard that this rotation has been historically packed with students in the past, but there have only been like 10-12 students rotating each month which is a great amount. Highly recommend!

Attendings: One of my favorite aspects of the program. You will work with approximately 25 different attendings throughout your rotation. There is a mix of generalists and specialists (joints, sports, spine, hand, shoulder/elbow). Attendings are very into teaching residents and they seem to let their residents do a lot. I did not get a malignant vibe from anyone.

Residents: Definitely reminiscent of a sports team. The chiefs are the team captains and run a tight ship. The senior/upper level residents also mean business. The 2’s and interns take the bulk of the call and do the majority of the pager holding/consult seeing. Everyone seems to get along and hang out outside of work. I got to cover a high school football game with one of the residents and the PD for some sideline experience.

Didactics: True strength of the program. Daily lectures/questions and a large protected block of education on Monday nights. Pimping starts at the bottom (students, interns, 2’s...) and works its way up (3’s, 4’s). Cheifs/seniors seem very knowledgeable. I hear historically they do well on OITE’s. Also, there is a fracture conference every Friday which is pretty sweet. All the residents, reps, and attendings go.

Operative Experience: Another major strength! There is a large diversity of cases and senior residents are very confident in the OR. It’s impressive to watch the upper level’s operate.

Research: Apparently, each resident is required to work on a project each year. This is an area that is supposedly growing in the program. Resident’s are always looking for help with projects and are willing to take on students!

Pros: good operative experience, well rounded residents, residents go to big name fellowships

Cons: working on strengthening research, a few new attendings are coming in (can be considered a strength because some of the older attendings are retiring).

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Any updated info on Valley in Vegas?

 

[Thumpar]

I have a pretty solid USMLE Step 1, but my COMLEX is only a little bit above the average. Any idea on how osteopathic ortho residencies would view this?

 

[DNC127]

I have a pretty solid USMLE Step 1, but my COMLEX is only a little bit above the average. Any idea on how osteopathic ortho residencies would view this?

What are your scores?

 

[Thumpar]

Mid 240s USMLE, around 570s COMLEX

 

[DNC127]

Mid 240s USMLE, around 570s COMLEX

Will come down to rotations and the rest of your app imo. Comlex is lower, but I know people who are overcoming that with doing well on rotations. They may look at your usmle and have it make up for comlex but it depends on the program.