Curriculum

The orthopedic adult reconstruction - shoulder and elbow fellowship includes two and three-month block rotations with the core faculty, Dr. Michael Wiater (shoulder team I & II) and Dr. Brett Wiater and Dr. Alexander Martusiewicz (shoulder team II). While on either rotation, the fellow has the option of spending time with any of the adjunct faculty. Other members of the team will include a fourth-year orthopedic resident, a third-year orthopedic resident, physician assistants, outside rotating orthopedic residents, and medical students.

The rotation blocks will be staggered with the orthopedic sports medicine fellowship so that no overlap between the fellows will occur. In addition to ample time in the operating room, the fellow will spend one day per week in the Corewell Health Orthopedic Institute and the private offices. The fellow will spend one day per week free of clinical duties to allow for protected research and academic time. The fellow will be given many opportunities to work independently with supervising attending staff immediately available at all times. While general orthopedic trauma call is not part of the fellowship, the fellow will be expected to be available by page to provide support for the residents on call with the management of complex shoulder and elbow problems. Fellows have the option of moonlighting in an orthopedic urgent care.

Fellows will be financially supported to attend at least one national subspecialty meeting during the fellowship year, such as that held by:

• The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons
• The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
• The American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine
• The Arthroscopy Association of North America

The fellow usually attends several industry-sponsored surgical skills courses during the fellowship year.

The program will also offer educational opportunities about medical research and statistics, practice initiation and management, coding and billing regulations, and bioethical and medico-legal issues.

Weekly shoulder and elbow teaching conference

• Held on the first, third and firth Wednesday at 6:30 am in the Applebaum Surgical Learning Center
• Faculty, fellows, orthopedic residents, outside rotating residents, and medical students are in attendance
• Conference is facilitated by the program director and organized by the fellow
• It includes the presentation of major topics in shoulder and elbow surgery and discussion of interesting and challenging shoulder and elbow cases
• Preoperative evaluation, diagnostic work-up, treatment options, surgical planning, intraoperative findings, and postoperative radiographs are discussed
• Upcoming cases and cases from the week prior are discussed
• A review of the current literature is also part of the discussion
• The fellow presents a brief lecture once a month

Weekly interesting case conference

• Held every Friday at 6:30 am
• Attended by the entire Department of Orthopedic Surgery
• Conference is facilitated by the department chairman
• The staff and residents select interesting cases
• Shoulder and elbow cases are frequently presented
• Fellows will be required to present at least one shoulder and elbow case during the academic year

Shoulder orthopedic lecture series

• Series is part of the core curriculum of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery
• Held every Monday and Tuesday at 6:30 am
• Covers all aspects of orthopedic surgery and are attended by the orthopedic residents
• Fellows are expected to attend when the topic is pertinent
• Lecturers include teaching staff, research staff, musculoskeletal radiology staff, fellows, and residents
• The shoulder and elbow fellow will prepare and give several of these lectures to the residents per year
• Clinical and basic science topics in shoulder and elbow surgery, as well as shoulder and elbow Orthopedic In-training Examination (OITE) questions will be covered throughout the year

Monthly shoulder and elbow journal club

• Nine monthly shoulder and elbow journal clubs will be held on the second Thursday of the month at 6:30 pm (September through June)
• The fellow will select the most relevant articles from the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery-American Volume, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, American Journal of Sports Medicine, Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery, and the Journal of Orthopedic Trauma
• All residents on service and the fellow are expected to have reviewed the articles in advance and will be called upon to discuss the articles
• Combined with the experience in research, the fellow will develop skills in critical review of the literature
• Fellows encouraged to attain a level of expertise sufficient to participate as a reviewer for appropriate journals upon completion of the fellowship

Monthly morbidity and mortality conference

• Held on the last Friday of every month at 6:30 am
• Attended by the entire Department of Orthopedic Surgery
• Conference is facilitated by the department chairman
• Cases are selected by the chief resident and the fellow will be required to present cases in which he or she is involved
• Case presentations will include thorough literature reviews

Monthly shoulder and elbow research conference

• Held on the fourth Wednesday at 6:30 a.m. in the Applebaum Surgical Learning Institute
• The fellow and faculty will meet with members of the laboratory and clinical shoulder and elbow research team to discuss the progress of ongoing projects and the timeline for completion. Novel ideas for research projects will be presented to the group. The status of presentations and manuscripts to meet upcoming deadlines will be reviewed.

Monthly grand rounds

• Held on the first Friday of the month and are presented from September through May
• Attended by the entire Department of Orthopedic Surgery
• Distinguished visiting orthopedic surgeons are invited by the chief resident
• All subspecialty sub-specialties are represented during the year 
• Interesting cases treated in the department are presented to the visitor by the residents and fellows
  • This is followed by a lecture given by the visiting orthopedic surgeon
• The fellow will be required to present at least one interesting shoulder and elbow case at grand rounds during the year

Gross anatomy cadaver dissection course

• Musculoskeletal gross anatomy cadaveric dissections are held weekly throughout the academic year
• Prosection is the responsibility of the second-year orthopedic residents
• The fellow will attend and participate in the anatomy sessions that pertain to the shoulder, arm, and elbow

Arthroscopy and arthroplasty bioskills laboratory

• Workshops are held in the state-of-the-art Applebaum Surgical Learning Center throughout the academic year. Cadaver labs are primarily used. All orthopedic surgery residents and fellows on the shoulder and elbow service are expected to participate. This conference is facilitated by teaching staff as well as corporate sponsors and allows participants the opportunity to enhance surgical skills outside the operating room.