Application

The trauma fellow will be responsible for the assessment of patients preoperatively and for decision making as to surgical procedures. He will also be responsible for the performance and teaching of preoperative planning. These will be discussed and confirmed with the attending orthopaedic trauma surgeons or program director and carried out under supervision of one of these. The trauma fellow will be responsible for the supervision of the postoperative care on his service and are expected to teach junior residents and guide them through the simpler fracture cases.

The trauma fellow's time will be divided between clinical and research responsibilities. During the months of July, August, September, and October the trauma fellows will rotate one month on clinical activities and one month on research. At the request of the chief resident on trauma, the research trauma fellow may be used to assist in operative cases based upon volume and need. During the other months of the year the trauma fellows will alternate between clinical activities and research. These will be scheduled and dedicated to those purposes. These are the low volume months and therefore will not require the research fellow to participate in clinical activities. This will provide the fellows with six months clinical experience and six-month research.

The trauma fellow will be expected to participate in any locally arranged courses and will be able to participate in national courses. Ample allowance will be given for appropriate travel as related to the presentation of papers and research.

The educational program for the orthopedic trauma fellows is melded with the educational program for the orthopaedic residents at the Carolinas Medical Center. There is a structured didactic curriculum in general orthopaedics in all subspecialty areas. Fellows participate in instruction and precepting for conferences. Faculty members direct all conferences. Fellows participate actively in case presentations, and assist in surgical skill demonstrations. They are expected to participate in conferences that involve the care of patients with musculoskeletal injuries, but not participate in those concerning other topics.

The trauma fellow will be the primary responsibility of the program director, Dr. James F. Kellam. Drs. Michael J. Bosse and Stephen Sims, full-time orthopaedic traumatologists, will assist Dr. Kellam in the supervision of the fellows. The trauma fellows will be supervised by the other attending orthopaedic surgeons on trauma call during their on call nights and on surgical cases.

The following educational aids are available to fellows:

• Videotape library of internal fixation techniques and operative exposures for fracture fixation.
• Sound slide presentations
• X-ray teaching files
• Library facilities
• Bioskills training laboratory
• Basic science laboratory
• A clinical research department
• Computer laptops and internet access
• CD-ROMs

For more information on the trauma fellowship program, contact:

Pat Hines
Fellowship Coordinator
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Carolinas Medical Center
PO Box 32861
Charlotte, NC 28232-2861
Phone: 704-355-6046
Email: Pat.Hines@carolinashealthcare.org