Rotations and Curriculum

Facilities

Physicians participating in our sports medicine fellowship program will see patients in several ambulatory clinics of Mercy Health Physicians. Surgical procedures are completed at The Jewish Hospital, Mercy Fairfield, Mercy West Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital and St. Elizabeth Hospital. 

Rotation Schedule

Fellows have formal rotations with Drs. Frank Noyes, Thomas Lindenfeld, Marc Galloway and Samer Hasan. Rotations last six to seven weeks, with fellows completing two rotations with each of the core faculty (once in the first half of the year and once in the second half of the year). A sample rotation schedule is below.

Each fellow spends two to three days in the clinic, two days in surgery and two mornings a week in educational conferences and research meetings. The Center provides orthopedic care to a large number of referred patients. The operative case load includes knee ligament reconstructions; knee, shoulder and elbow arthroscopies; complex salvage procedures including high tibial osteotomy, revision cases, total joint replacements; arthroscopic and open techniques for capsular reconstruction, total shoulder arthroplasties and general orthopedic trauma.

• Academic Training: One of the core components of our fellowship program is the formal academic training and structured curriculum. This portion of the educational experience is considered vital as fellows spend 12 to 15 hours each month in teaching conferences and journal club sessions. 
• Clinical Training: The clinical experience encompasses the many realms of patient care. This component of the fellowship education turns academic theory into practice. Under the guidance of our fellowship faculty the fellows learn: 
  • Examination and diagnostic techniques
  • Use of patient-reported outcome measures and clinical research rating systems
  • Effective communication skills
  • Formulation of a defensible diagnosis and treatment plan for patients
• Surgical Training: The surgical training experience provides an in-depth, hands-on array of the most advanced orthopedic techniques.
• Bioskills/Cadaver Laboratories: These sessions involve extensive, hands-on instruction on advanced arthroscopic and minimally invasive surgical techniques using cadaver joints. All bioskills labs take place in the operating room at The Jewish Hospital.  
• Rehabilitation Training: The rehabilitation experience is encompassed through teaching conferences and observation of physical therapist in clinic. The fellows gain valuable feedback concerning the results of both operative and non-operative treatment programs and the effect of patient compliance on the outcomes of these programs. 
• Sports Coverage Training: Each fellow is assigned to act as the team physician for an area high school during the football season. Fellows are educated in both on-the-field injury management and communication skills needed for interacting with school administrators and parents of injured athletes. Fellows also have the opportunity to attend special events such as wrestling tournaments, local marathons and sports physicals in order to gain a wide variety of on-the-field experience.

Research and Scholarly Activity

Research Experience: Each fellow participates in at least one research study that results in a manuscript and submission for presentation at a national meeting.