back to Fellowships in Orthopaedic Surgery

Responsibilities of Fellow...

Patient Care
The fellow will function as the primary supervised surgeon on the service, assuming responsibility for the admission of all patients to that service and ensuring that inpatient ward requirements are met. Daily rounds and documentation are required.

Residents will have the opportunity to act as primary surgical assistants in selected cases. The fellow will attend surgery in such cases and assist as needed under the supervision of the fellowship director.

Surgical performance will be the responsibility of the individual attending physician, but it is our goal that the fellow be capable of performing a wide range of customary orthopaedic procedures for disorders of his or her subspecialty area. Operative reports for all cases attended by the fellow will be available to the fellow.

During clinic the fellow will interview and examine patients, often making recommendations for further assessment and management.

Conferences
The fellow's responsibilities are as follows:

• Attend formal morning teaching conferences
• Organize the weekly morning conferences for his or her subspecialty
• Prepare and deliver lectures at selected conferences throughout the year

Research
Each fellow is expected to complete at least one research project. All studies must culminate in submission of a manuscript by the end of the year, unless the project is recognized by the faculty to require a longer research period. If a longer period is needed, the fellow is expected to complete a preliminary study review and document his or her contributions. Projects can be presented at a conference or alumni meeting. All projects will be developed under the supervision of an attending physician and be approved by the fellowship director.

Self-Education
In the course of the conference schedule, the fellow will be exposed to a large volume of references, including scientific articles and textbooks. The fellow will attempt to read and synthesize this material and develop a method of filing, retrieving, and reviewing the information. Since many fellows will work within an educational setting, they must be prepared not only to present their work to colleagues in the scientific community, but to summarize appropriately for residents and students as well.

Licensure
All fellows must obtain a Tennessee license before their fellowship begins. Upon acceptance, information will be provided about the process.