Educational Methods

• Under the mentorship of three full time orthopaedic trauma surgeons, one hand surgeon, and other subspecialty trained orthopaedic surgeons, the fellow is involved in the routine assessment, evaluation and formulation of treatment plans with management strategies for the orthopaedic trauma patients. The great variety of clinical cases allows the fellow to be comfortable with the principles needed to treat patients with all types of orthopaedic trauma and fractures.
• Cooper University Hospital is an American College of Surgeons accredited Level 1 trauma center. It has a full complement of residents in all medical and surgical specialties, ICUs for pediatrics, trauma, and medicine. The outpatient office has radiology facilities, secretaries, and orthopaedic technicians.
• Daily fracture rounds commence every morning at 7am and weekly orthopaedic grand rounds allow the fellow to receive both didactic teaching as well as being able to lead the discussion as a teacher for the residents. Under faculty supervision with graduated responsibility, the fellow helps residents review the patient’s clinical status and their x-rays and formulate treatment plans and options. Educational conferences on Tuesday morning for 1 hour include basic science education and cover a multitude of topics including orthopaedic biomechanics, calcium metabolism, bone healing and PTSD. Three didactic lectures per month are on fractures and trauma and one per month on non-trauma and/or a non-orthopaedic topic. Eight visiting lecturers per year from outside orthopedic surgery lead a multidisciplinary conference. One morning per month is orthopaedic trauma journal club, where the fellow discusses the articles and leads the discussion.
• The fellow receives directed teaching from the qualified orthopaedic trauma physicians to assist him/her in understanding the possible options for treatment and their ramifications (both positive and negative). Training an orthopaedic trauma fellow to become a practicing clinician involves improving on strong foundations and recognizing weaknesses and establishing fundamentals that can then be built upon. Monthly a morbidity and mortality conference is held to discuss the associated problems with treating orthopaedic trauma patients as well as prevention methods and treatment solutions, the fellow will be intimately involved with this process.
• The fellow makes daily rounds on patients, with the residents, and is encouraged to formulate treatment plans for the new patients and actively assess the progress of all current orthopaedic trauma patients under the tutelage of the orthopaedic trauma staff physicians. The fellow must present, defend, and execute a clinical research project, including the IRB submission, suitable for presentation or publication during their one year rotation. The fellow is in the operating room 3 days/week with supervision from two fellowship trained orthopaedic trauma surgeons, and one hand surgeon and gradual autonomy is instituted as (s)he progresses. The fellow does one full day of office hours per week with an attending orthopaedic trauma surgeon to develop a mentorship but this also allows critical thinking with some supervised independence. One day per week (20%) of the fellow’s time is devoted to administrative time, clinical and basic science research.
• The fellow takes second call (back-up) call from home one weekday night per week (with a non-trauma attending) and two weekend days per month with orthopaedic trauma staff supervision. The fellow assists the residents in making clinical decisions based on the evaluation of the trauma patient and then discusses treatment options with the attending orthopedic trauma staff physician. The fellow is required to assist the resident and call the orthopaedic attending surgeon on-call to report on his/her assessment and to formulate a treatment plan. Appropriate supervision with graduated responsibility of the fellow is always be present during the decision making process and in the operating room, emergency room, and trauma admitting area.

CLICK HERE to download, view and print the complete Orthopedic Trauma fellowship brochure

Contact Information

Director: Robert F. Ostrum, M.D.
Fellowship Coordinator: Lisa Torrence
Administrative Assistant: Trish Hansen-Johnson
Phone: (856) 342-3206
Fax: (856) 968-8288
Contact: www.ota.org
Address: Cooper University Hospital,  3 Cooper Plaza, Suite 408, Camden, New Jersey 08103