Clinical training

Clinical rotations during the Adult Reconstructive Surgery, Lower Extremity (Hip and Knee) Fellowship are spent with members of Mayo Clinic's Orthopedic Surgery, Hip and Knee Reconstruction faculty. You work one-on-one with faculty members to deliver patient care.

Individualized instruction, patterned to your interests and needs, develop as a natural extension of this daily interaction. The rotations result in a rapid progression of responsibilities.

Educational activities, conferences, and clinical research projects derive from these day-to-day interactions with patients and faculty members. You develop skills based on the challenges posed by busy, complex, and diverse individual clinical practices.

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, small discussion groups, journal clubs, and one-on-one instruction are integral parts of the Adult Reconstructive Surgery, Lower Extremity (Hip and Knee) Fellowship. You are encouraged to take full advantage of the following opportunities:

• Tuesday morning hip and knee joints conference (fellow is responsible for organizing and presenting cases along with the residents)
• Monday morning Orthopedic Grand Rounds and Resident Conferences
• Quarterly journal clubs on selected up to date topics within arthroplasty
• Regularly scheduled cadaver lab experiences, focusing on technical tips required for complex exposure and component implantation

Research training

Your research opportunities at Mayo Clinic are outstanding, enhanced by carefully monitored patient registries, orthopedic research coordinators, the Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, and medical illustrators.

During your fellowship, you are encouraged to complete at least one patient-related research project for publication.

Call frequency

There is staff call responsibility generally involving the overseeing residents and advance practice providers covering the emergency department, inpatients, and any potential surgical cases. Staff call provides the opportunity to improve your decision making and surgical autonomy, while also being fully supported by the orthopedic faculty throughout your call coverage. 

Previous fellows have voluntarily increased their call experience, which is a form of internal moonlighting that is reimbursed. Mayo Clinic follows the recommendations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Moonlighting

You may moonlight with the program director's approval. Moonlighting should not interfere with the required learning and must not violate the work-hour rules of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or visa regulations.

Teaching opportunities

Teaching opportunities may be available when a medical student or junior resident is assigned to certain orthopedic services, as well as during conferences.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop your technical skills, your performance is monitored carefully during the course of the Adult Reconstructive Surgery, Lower Extremity (Hip and Knee) Fellowship. You are formally evaluated by supervising faculty members on a regular basis and meet with the program director to review these evaluations.

Each quarter, the faculty members complete a performance evaluation and this evaluation form is shared with you at the end of the quarter.

In addition, you evaluate the faculty to confirm that your educational needs are being met.

Your core competencies and milestones are evaluated by the Clinical Competency Committee semiannually in accordance with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements. The program director also meets with each fellow semiannually to discuss progress during the year and address any concerns that may arise.