Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program Rotations

Our intern year is thoughtfully designed to build a strong foundation for residents pursuing a career in orthopedic surgery. Through a series of rotations, first-year residents gain early exposure to a wide range of orthopedic subspecialties while working closely with senior residents and faculty. This year emphasizes the development of essential organizational and interpersonal skills, alongside rapid growth in orthopedic knowledge and clinical experience.

In addition to orthopedic training, interns complete six off-service rotations to broaden their experience in general patient care. All rotations are one month in length, with the exception of the orthopedic trauma/night float rotation, which is three months in total.

The orthopedic rotations include:
Trauma
Pediatrics
Night float
Spine
Hand

The remaining six months are dedicated to off-service rotations in:
Vascular surgery
General trauma surgery
Plastic surgery
Anesthesia ICU
Emergency medicine
Neurosurgery

Night Float

Attendings: Miguel Daccarett, MD; Colin Cantrell, MD; Rodolfo Zamora, MD; Jiyao Zou, MD; Chad Mathis, MD

Time:5-6 weeks

The PGY-2 resident on the night float rotation will be responsible for seeing all consults at two Level 1 Trauma Centers: UofL Health University Hospital and Norton Children’s Hospital. The resident will be on call from 5 pm to 7 am, Sunday-Thursday. The night float resident will be responsible for stabilizing patients and preparing them for surgery the following day. They will also participate in any emergent surgeries during the time they are on call. A chief resident is available to answer any questions, provide assistance and come in to operate on emergent patients at UofL Health-University Hospital.

Pediatric Orthopedics

Attendings: Jennifer Brey, MD; Laura Jacks, MD; Josh Meier, MD; Kelly Jenkins, MD; Bailey Young, DO; Daniel Bachman, MD; Kent Walker, DO

Time: 10 weeks

The PGY-2 pediatric orthopedics rotation will be completed with the Norton Children’s Orthopedics of Louisville Group. The resident will spend two days per week in clinic and three days per week in the OR to develop an understanding of pediatric orthopedic pathology (such as fracture management, spine deformities, hip dysplasia, spasticity, metabolic bone disorders). They will be responsible for managing all floor and ER consults from 7am-5pm Monday through Friday.

Hand

Attendings: Ethan Blackburn, MD; Luke Robinson, MD; Charity Burke, MD; Lauren Fader, MD; Stephanie Merimee, MD; Victor Fehrenbacher, MD; Amit Gupta, MD; Anthony Hazel, MD

The junior hand and upper extremity rotation will be spent with Louisville Arm and Hand, a Norton Healthcare group. The resident will be in the OR three to four days a week and in clinic one to two days per week. The senior resident will coordinate with the lower level residents on service to ensure that each resident is with a different attending surgeon to maximize the learning experience. The PGY-2 on service will have the opportunity to perform critical portions of routine hand and upper extremity cases (ex: carpal/cubital tunnel release, trigger finger release, LRTI, I&D).

Trauma

Attendings: Miguel Daccarett, MD; Colin Cantrell, MD; Rodolfo Zamora, MD; Jiyao Zou, MD   

Time: 10 Weeks  

The resident will be involved in morning rounds and will be expected to see all floor and ER consults and staff them with the chief on service. The resident will be involved in morning rounds and will be expected to see all floor and ER consults and staff with the chief on service. The resident will participate in trauma cases daily and have the opportunity to start operating independently on level-appropriate trauma cases (hardware removal, I&D, intramedullary nailing). The PGY-2 will participate in two to three half days of trauma clinic per week.

Recon/Sports

Attendings:  Jarod Richards, MD; Andrew Swiergosz, MD

Time: 10 weeks

The resident will spending time with a fellowship trained sports surgeon as well as a fellowship trained adult reconstruction surgeon for 10 weeks at UofL South Hospital. This will be the residents introduction to a  variety of different sports and adult reconstruction procedures.  The resident will participate in basic and complex adult reconstruction and arthroscopy cases. The PGY-2 will participate in one to two days in the clinic and the rest in the OR.

AMG Ortho

Attendings: Scott Klein, MD; Lauren Boden, MD; Allison Boden, MD; Stephanie Boden, MD

Time: 5 weeks

The resident will spend time at the Louisville VA two days a week with Dr. Scott Klein. They will spend the remainder of the time with Drs. Lauren Boden, Stephanie Boden, and Allison Boden in the operating room and clinic at UofL facilities performing spine, foot and ankle, and sports cases.  This rotation exposes the resident to the VA health system as well as a broad variety of other orthopedic procedures. 

Trauma

Attendings: Miguel Daccarett, MD; Jiyao Zou, MD; Rodolfo Zamora, MD; Colin Cantrell, MD; Chad Mathis, MD

Time: 10 weeks

The resident will be responsible for managing all orthopedic patients on the floor. They will begin to operate independently on level-appropriate trauma cases (such as intramedullary nailing, ankle and wrist fractures). They will be responsible for seeing consults on the floor and in the ER and educating the team’s intern on how to manage these consults. Additionally, they will spend one half day in clinic per week seeing trauma patients

Sports

Attendings: Akbar Nawab, MD

Time: 5 weeks

This rotation is a mentorship model rotation with Dr. Akbar Nawab who performs a varitey of arthroscopic, joint presevervation, and arthroplasty cases.  This resident will spend 3 days in clinic and 2 days in the operating room furthering their knowledge and honing their skills in arthroscopy and arthroplasty.

Night Float

Attendings: Miguel Daccarett, MD; Colin Cantrell, MD; Rodolfo Zamora, MD; Jiyao Zou, MD

Time: 5-6 weeks

The PGY-3 resident on the night float rotation will be responsible for seeing all consults at two Level 1 Trauma Centers; UofL Health-University Hospital and Norton Children’s Hospital. The resident will be on call from 5 pm to 7 am, Sunday-Thursday. The night float resident will be responsible for stabilizing patients and preparing them for surgery the following day. They will also participate in any emergent surgeries during the time they are on call. A chief resident is available to answer any questions, provide assistance and come in to operate on emergent patients at UofL Health-University Hospital.

Jewish Adult Reconstruction

Attendings: Arthur Malkani, MD; Madhusudhan Yakkanti, MD; James Baker, MD

Time: 10 weeks

This rotation will focus on the hip and knee reconstruction and will involve robotic assisted surgery. Residents will have the opportunity to perform all critical portions of adult reconstruction surgeries. The resident will spend two days per week in clinic and three days per week in the OR.

Spine

Attendings: Mitch Campbell, MD; Charles Crawford, MD; John Dimar, MD; Mladen Djurasovic, MD; Steven Glassman, MD; Jeff Gum, MD; Dr. Paul Celestre, MD; Dr. Justin Mathew, MD; Dr. Kirk Owens, MD

Time: 10 weeks

This rotation is a comprehensive cervical to lumbar spine experience with Norton Leatherman Spine Specialists, a premier spine center in the country. The resident on service will work one-on-one with experienced attendings in clinic and the OR. There will be an opportunity to participate in Robotic-Assisted Spine Surgery. The resident on service will take three weekdays of spine call and one weekend of spine call per month.

Foot & Ankle

Attendings: Todd Hockenbury, MD; Victor Anciano, MD

Time: 10 weeks

The resident will be in clinic evaluating patients three days a week and in the OR two days a week. Hockenbury does an excellent job of explaining the fundamentals of foot and ankle pathology/biomechanics, which is very helpful at this juncture of residency. One OR day is focused on more complex cases, such as total ankle arthroplasty and major foot/ankle reconstruction. The other OR day is spent at an outpatient surgery center with a focus on smaller cases, such as hallux valgus deformity correction and forefoot fusions. This rotation is at UofL Health Mary & Elizabeth Hospital and UofL Medical Center East.

Trauma

Attendings: Miguel Daccarett, MD; Jiyao Zou, MD; Rodolfo Zamora, MD; Colin Cantrell, MD; Chad Mathis, MD

Time: 10 weeks

The resident will focus on refining their operative skills and starting to participate in more challenging trauma cases, such as pelvic/acetabulum trauma and periarticular fractures. The PGY-4 resident will participate in morning rounds and see primarily orthopedic patients in the ICU. They will also spend one half day in clinic per week with Dr. Zou to further education on complex wound care management.

Musculoskeletal Oncology

Attendings: Rodolfo Zamora, MD

Time: 10 weeks

This rotation is a mentorship model with Dr. Zamora focusing on orthopedic oncology and musculoskeletal tumors. The patient will spend time in the clinic and operating room learning how to work up, treat, and provide surveillance on a number of different orthopedic oncologic pathologies. The resident participates in surgical cases focused on oncology and complex adult reconstruction.

Sports

Attendings: Michael Salamon, MD;  Sam Carter, MD

Time: 10 weeks

This rotation is spent with the orthopedic specialists group at Norton Brownsboro Hospital and with the Ellis and Badenhausen group. This rotation will focus on knee, shoulder, and hip arthroscopy as well as a variety and foot and ankle procedures and knee athroplasty. The resident on service will spend two days per week in clinic and three days per week in the OR.

Pediatric Orthopedics

Attendings:  Kelly Jenkins, MD; Bailey Young, MD; Jennifer Brey, MD; Laura Jacks, MD; Josh Meier, MD; Daniel Bachman, MD; Kent Walker, DO

Time: 10 weeks

The PGY-4 on pediatric orthopedics will continue to build on their junior level pediatric experience with the Norton Children’s Orthopedics of Louisville Group. As the upper level resident on service, the PGY-4 will be expected to have a more thorough understanding of pediatric orthopedic pathology. They will spend two days per week in clinic and three days per week in the OR. 

Shoulder

Attendings:  Kevin Harreld, MD; Mark Smith, MD; Justin Givens, MD

Time: 10 weeks

This rotation allows the resident to dive deep into shoulder arthroscopy and shoulder arthroplasty. They will be exposed to a variety of arthroscopic cases as well as anatomical and reverse shoulder arthroplasty. They will spend two days per week in clinic and three days per week in the OR. 

Trauma

Attendings: Miguel Daccarett, MD; Jiyao Zou, MD; Rodolfo Zamora, MD; Colin Cantrell, MD; Chad Mathis, MD

Time: 10 weeks

The PGY-5 on the trauma team will serve as the chief resident of the service. Responsibilities as the chief resident include: participating in pre-operative planning for surgical cases, booking surgical cases, overseeing the management of orthopedic patients on the floor and in the ICU, and participating in surgery daily. The chief resident is generally involved in more complex trauma cases and will also be involved in educating and supervising lower level residents in the operating room.

Hand & Upper Extremity

Attendings: Ethan Blackburn, MD; Luke Robinson, MD; Charity Burke, MD; Lauren Fader, MD; Stephanie Merimee, MD; Victor Fehrenbacher, MD; Amit Gupta, MD; Anthony Hazel, MD

Time: 10 weeks

This rotation will be spent with Louisville Arm & Hand, a Norton Healthcare group comprised of fellowship trained hand and upper extremity surgeons. The resident will be in the OR four days a week and in clinic one day per week. The senior resident will coordinate with the lower level residents on service to ensure that each resident is with a different attending surgeon to maximize the learning experience.

Foot & Ankle

Attending: Todd Hockenbury, MD; Victor Aniciano, MD

Time: 5 weeks

The resident will be in clinic evaluating patients three days a week and in the OR two days a week. One OR day is focused on more complex cases, such as total ankle arthroplasty and major foot/ankle reconstruction. The other OR day is spent at an outpatient surgery center with a focus on smaller cases, such as hallux valgus deformity correction and forefoot fusions.

Elective

Time: 10 weeks

The senior elective is a flexible rotation that affords the PGY-5 resident the freedom to work with any of the orthopedic surgery facutly in the Louisville community. The purpose of the senior elective rotation is to allow the resident to address any interests and areas of improvement prior to graduating from the program and moving into fellowship/practice.

Sports 5

Attending: Akbar Nawab, MD

Time: 5 weeks

This rotation is a mentorship model rotation with Dr. Akbar Nawab who performs a varitey of arthroscopic, joint presevervation, and arthroplasty cases.  This resident will spend 3 days in clinic and 2 days in the operating room furthering their knowledge and honing their skills in arthroscopy and arthroplasty.

Recon 5

Attendings: Sam Bhimani, MD; Kevin Himschoot, MD; Madhusudhan Yakkanti, MD; Jonathan Yerasimides, MD

The resident will be in the operating room three days a week performing mostly outpatient total hip and knee arthroplasty. They will be exposed to anterior total hips and robotic total knee arthroplasty. additionally, they will spend two days in clinic evaluating patients and learning pre-operative and post-operative care.