East Tennessee State University-Quillen College of Medicine Program

Program Identity & Fit

ETSU/Quillen's Orthopaedic Surgery Residency is a five-year, community-embedded academic program in Johnson City, TN, serving the rural Appalachian tri-cities region of northeast Tennessee. Faculty are fellowship-trained across hand/upper extremity, sports medicine, trauma, spine, pediatric orthopaedics, adult reconstruction, and foot & ankle, giving residents broad subspecialty rotation exposure including dedicated "Community Orthopaedics" blocks in PGY-4/5 that signal intentional preparation for practice in underserved or non-tertiary settings. The program maintains a dedicated Orthopaedic Research Fund and gives explicit preference to applicants with active research participation, indicating research is valued as a differentiator though not structurally central to the curriculum. The five-year structure with broad general orthopaedics rotations, night float, and elective time suggests a program oriented toward producing well-rounded general/community orthopaedic surgeons with some pursuing subspecialty fellowship training.