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Operative Experience

Indiana University School of Medicine’s Trauma Fellowship program offers a comprehensive surgical experience with a wide breadth of complex pathology. Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital serves as a tertiary referral center for complex orthopaedic trauma throughout Indiana.

The following gives an idea of the average number of operatively managed fractures seen on an annual basis from our past few years of fellows' case logs:
Anatomic Location Annual Number of Operations
 Open Fractures (all sites)  175
Acetabulum 96
Pelvis 160
Hip fracture 140
Femur (shaft and distal) 180
Bicondylar tibia plateau  56
Tibia shaft 80
Tibia pilon 60
Calcaneus 30
Long bone nonunion 65
Humerus shaft 25
Distal humerus 15
Upper extremity fracture dislocations 30
Periacetabular osteotomy 50
Total hip arthroplasty  30
Hexapod frames >10
 

Daily Activity

Fellows participate in morning X-ray report and inpatient rounding. The Orthopaedic Trauma Service team meets every morning to review the previous afternoon/evening/overnight trauma admissions and discuss diagnosis, surgical indications, surgical tactic, and anticipated outcomes. The advanced practice provider staff then rounds as a team through the intensive care unit (ICU) and inpatient units. The fellows will then follow one of the attending staff either to the operating room or to the orthopaedic physician office.


Clinic

Fellows rotate through the clinic of multiple faculty members for approximately two months. Faculty have office hours one day a week, which the fellow attends on a rotating basis. The fellow is in the operating room the majority of the rest of the week, with an average of half-day per week available for research time.  

Orthopaedic Trauma Call Responsibility
Call Responsibility

Fellows are always on call with a staff member and thus do not take independent call. Call is one in three weekdays and every third weekend, averaged over the year. Advanced Practice Providers/Residents remain in-house 24/7 and field all floor calls and respond initially to consults. Fellow call functions similar to faculty call and primarily involves discussing consult disposition with the in-house team, operative planning, and surgery for urgent/emergent conditions.