Clinical training

Clinical rotations during the Adult Lower Extremity Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship are spent with members of Mayo Clinic's adult lower extremity reconstruction faculty. You will work one-on-one with faculty members to deliver patient care. Individualized instruction, patterned to your interests and needs, will be developed 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 will develop skills based on the challenges posed by busy, complex, and diverse individual clinical practices.

Didactic training

Clinical conferences, seminars, small discussion groups, journal clubs, and one-on-one instruction are integral parts of the Adult Lower Extremity Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship. As a fellow in this program, you will be participating in the following educational opportunities:

• Monday morning Orthopedic Surgery Grand Rounds
• Tuesday morning adult reconstructive case conference (fellows are responsible for organizing and presenting cases)
• Thursday morning quarterly Trauma/Adult reconstruction conference
• Quarterly adult reconstruction journal clubs
• Quarterly cadaver lab sessions with faculty
• Orthopedic residency basic science curriculum

Research training

Your research opportunities at Mayo Clinic are outstanding, enhanced by carefully monitored patient registries and close cooperation with the basic science laboratories, Division of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, and medical illustrators. During your fellowship, you will be required to complete at least one patient-related research project. Fellows typically complete several projects during the year.

You will have the opportunity to pursue clinical research projects during time blocks when you are free of any clinical assignments. This typically happens during the second or third academic quarter for those interested in maximizing the extensive clinical research opportunities available within the department.

Call

There is no call during the Adult Lower Extremity Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship.

Moonlighting

You may moonlight with 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. This is an integral part of our leadership curriculum. Many of our fellows have plans on going to academic practices where teaching will be a part of their daily activities.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop your technical skills, your performance will be monitored carefully during the course of the Adult Lower Extremity Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship. You will be formally evaluated by supervising faculty members on a regular basis and will meet with the program director to review these evaluations. Each quarter, the faculty members complete a performance evaluation form in MedHub, Medical Education Management system. This form will be shared with you at the end of the quarter.

In addition, you will evaluate the faculty to confirm that your educational needs are being met. Your core competencies and milestones will be evaluated by the Clinical Competency Committee semiannually in accordance with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requirements. The program director will also meet with you frequently to discuss progress during the year and address any concerns that may arise.