Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship Program Overview

The Yale Trauma Service is an internationally recognized service in the Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, and a tertiary referral center for complex trauma care throughout the region. The fellow will be exposed to all aspects of non-surgical and surgical care of orthopedic trauma. The fellow’s surgical experience will include open and revision surgery, and will include both acute and sub-acute care of orthopedic injuries.

The Chief of Orthopedic Trauma, Professor Michael Baumgaertner, MD, has extensive experience in orthopedic resident and attending level education. He has led the Orthopedic Trauma Service at the Level 1 Yale New Haven Hospital for over 25 years. He has also served as Chairperson of Education for both the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and AONA, and is past President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of AO North America, a non-profit organization of more than 1000 surgeons that is dedicated to the optimal care of patients with fractures and/or deformity. Dr. Baumgaertner’s landmark 1995 publication on hip fracture fixation performed at Yale initiated his international recognition. The measurement he described at that time has been validated repeatedly and remains the universal standard. He has authored numerous original articles and chapters in orthopaedic textbooks. He has lectured and taught residents in training and practicing surgeons on five continents optimal surgical fracture care.

This program will be part of the Orthopedic Trauma Association selection process and will participate in the OTA Fellows match. There are approximately 79 positions available in the United States in 45 Trauma fellowship programs. Applicants will have completed an ACGME accredited orthopaedic residency training Program or equivalent. Fellow applicants are expected to comply with all of the OTA Match procedures. One trauma fellow will be matched to a 12-month position at Yale beginning August 1 and ending July 31 of the following year.

The goals and objectives of the Yale Trauma Fellowship Training Program are to educate the fellows in all areas of orthopedic traumatology. This will be achieved through didactic sessions, literature review, oral presentations, patient examination and surgical skills development. The fellow will have the opportunity to develop individual discovery and investigation techniques through basic and clinical orthopaedic research.

The fellowship is designed to provide fellows with a wide range of experience in routine fracture management as well as complex fracture care. This includes acute management of isolated injuries and polytraumatized patients in a multidisciplinary approach, and operative management of periarticular, long bone, pelvic and acetabular fractures. The successful candidate will learn to manage a multitude of reconstructive problems including nonunions and complex arthroplasty for fracture care.