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Orthopedic Surgery Residency Columbia - Research

High quality research opportunities

Consistent with the requirements of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the mission of this department, and the vision of the Prisma Health and University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia, we offer a variety of research opportunities for faculty, residents, medical, graduate and undergraduate students.

We seek to collaborate and foster relationships with other departments and schools on the university campus to ensure high quality research opportunities, and look to work with other academic medical centers to participate in and lead multicenter studies and consortiums.

We offer abundant opportunities for research – our goal is to provide information that will improve the care of our patients and orthopedic patients nationally. We believe completing a research project aids in the development of a fully competent orthopedic surgeon. Gaining a greater understanding of how to conduct and complete quality research allows trainees to critically review literature and make evidence-based medical decisions.

View our department publications, presentations and posters

Additionally, we offer an innovative approach to dedicate time out of the resident schedule to allow for completion of research initiatives.  With the understanding that research occurs in fits and spurts, rather than in 3 month blocks, residents are encouraged to take up to 1 week of time per 3 month clinical rotation to work on research – known as a “research week.”  In this way, research time remains protected but is maximized for the benefit of productivity while limiting impact on clinical learning opportunities.

Resident research requirement

In accordance with the ACGME requirements for orthopedic resident training, we require resident participation in one research project.

Specific project requirements (minimum standards):
  1. Each resident is required to present one quality research project at a regional level or higher podium presentation.
  2. Residents are expected to be involved at the Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Principal Investigator level. This means active involvement in all aspects of the project—development of the study question, project design, implementation, data analysis and manuscript preparation. Thus, simply being part of another institution’s multicenter will not count toward this requirement.
  3. Each resident project must have at least one faculty mentor/sponsor for the project. Residents also are expected to complete a Quality Improvement (QI) project. These projects are mandated by the ACGME so that residents understand more about the “system” and its importance in patient care.
  4. Residents are expected to identify a patient care experience that they believe could be improved upon. They should then seek out a faculty mentor on the project and discuss with the mentor the case and areas for improvement. Residents will lead an effort to improve patient care in the future with this same issue. Then, they will report the QI project and its outcome to the program coordinator.

We encourage residents to participate in and complete multiple research projects during their resident training. This is consistent with the mission and vision for the office of orthopedic research—to develop lifelong learners and contributors to the orthopedic community.