Residency Program

Message from the Chair

Welcome to the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Los Angeles General Medical Center.

The USC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery is committed to providing our residents an excellent educational experience and there are few programs in the United States that can match our program with respect to the overall depth of the clinical experience and the educational opportunities provided to our residents.

There are three major affiliated hospitals in our residency program including: Keck Medical Center of USC, Los Angeles General Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The residents also rotate at Kaiser Baldwin Park Hospital which provides them with a community hospital experience, and Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center (foot and ankle, and joint reconstruction). The clinical diversity associated with these hospitals provides the residents with a unique and robust clinical experience which encompasses all aspects of musculoskeletal medicine. Our residents are truly ready for fellowship when they leave this program.

Our department has a strong tradition of excellence and we continue to build on that foundation. Our resident education program is one of the best in the nation. We have a two-year Core Curriculum which is the cornerstone of our teaching initiatives. This Core Curriculum meets every Friday morning and all residents are freed from their clinical duties to attend. The original AAOS Comprehensive Orthopaedic Review which I edited is based on this Core Curriculum. (I also edited the 3rd edition of this text). The goal of the Core Curriculum is to teach the residents both the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal disease and potential treatment options. In addition to the Core Curriculum, we have a number of other conferences including: weekly sub-specialty based conferences, a monthly Journal Club, Evidence Based Conference and Grand Rounds. Our goal is not only to teach you to be excellent surgeons but to be able to critically evaluate the literature and assess new technology. Approximately five years ago we opened our Surgical Simulation Lab. The faculty have created a surgical simulation curriculum with a heavy focus on enhancing surgical skills. The goal of this curriculum is to improve the surgical skills of the residents before they come to the operating room. In addition, we have created a special curriculum for the PGY-1 residents to further enhance their operative skills.

There is ample opportunity to do both clinical and basic science research within the Department. We are ranked 9th in NIH funding among orthopaedic surgery programs. We have established a clinical outcomes unit to support clinical research. All residents are required to complete a research project during the course of their residency. A research mentoring program has been developed to ensure that each resident has a valuable research experience that leads to at least one publication. However, many residents have multiple publications when they graduate. In order to further enhance the resident research experience, we are also providing one resident per year the opportunity to take a year out during their residency to do basic science and clinical research. We have very productive translational and clinical research programs.

We believe that the breadth of our clinical activity, the strength of our didactic programs and the various
research opportunities provides residents with a superb and unique educational experience. Our goal is to not only produce excellent orthopedic surgeons but the future leaders of our profession. We also believe that fostering a welcoming and supportive work and learning environment is essential for an outstanding residency program. We are committed to recruiting trainees from all backgrounds, ensuring a team that brings varied perspectives and experiences to our field. We guarantee that our residents will have the type of training that will enable them to pursue any type of orthopaedic career that they desire. Dr. Juliann Kwak Lee (Program Director), Dr. Ali Azad (Associate Program Director) and Dr. Luke Nicholson (Associate Program Director), and the faculty are truly committed to providing you with an optimal educational experience.

Our faculty will provide you with a superb educational experience. Despite all the changes in our world, we believe that this is an exciting time to be an orthopaedic surgery resident at USC and we look forward to having you join our orthopaedic surgery family.

Sincerely,

Jay R. Lieberman, M.D. Professor and Chair Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Keck School of Medicine of USC Professor of Biomedical Engineering Viterbi School of Engineering of USC