Community Memorial Health System Program

Orthopaedic Surgery Analyst Verified · Jul 19, 2026

Community Memorial Health System Program

Community Memorial Health System Program is a residency program specializing in Orthopaedic Surgery, located in Ventura, California, directed by Thomas F. Golden, MD and coordinated by Chelsea Dunlap.. International Medical Graduates interested in this program may contact the program coordinator directly at [email protected] or 805-948-5651. IMGPrep analysts have verified and compiled this program’s IMG acceptance rate, USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 score requirements, Visa Sponsorship Policy, graduation year cutoff, and ECFMG certificate requirements — available to IMGPrep subscribers.

Program Identity & Fit

Community Memorial's Orthopaedic Surgery Residency is a community hospital-based, five-year ACGME program with a strong osteopathic identity, drawing heavily on its affiliation with Western University/COMP and serving a socioeconomically and linguistically diverse Ventura County population, including a large Spanish-speaking community. The curriculum is structured and progressive, anchored by a VirtaMed arthroscopic simulation curriculum with escalating skill benchmarks across PGY1-5, an 8-week cadaver anatomy course, subspecialty clinic exposure, and a UCLA acute-care simulation day. Scholarly activity (case reports, retrospective/prospective research, and longitudinal QI projects) is a mandatory graduation requirement supported by a dedicated research department, and the program reports a 100% fellowship match rate across adult reconstruction, foot & ankle, hand, sports, and trauma. The program emphasizes a high faculty-to-resident ratio, direct accessibility to program leadership, and camaraderie in a close-knit community setting geared toward producing well-rounded surgeons for varied practice environments.

Who it fits

An osteopathically-trained applicant with demonstrated ties to the Western University/COMP pipeline or community-based DO training, seeking structured, mentorship-heavy orthopaedic training with built-in fellowship-preparation support rather than a high-volume academic quaternary environment.

Research intensity

Moderate - required for graduation with structured department support and dissemination expectations, but framed as scholarly/QI activity rather than a research-driven identity.

Career orientation

Fellowship - nearly all graduates pursue subspecialty fellowships (joint reconstruction, foot & ankle, hand, sports, trauma) with dedicated mentorship and audition-rotation support for this purpose.

Important

The program maintains a strong osteopathic identity and preferentially hosts third-year clinical rotations from Western University of Health Sciences COMP, not accepting outside third-year electives or international medical students.

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