Hospital for Special Surgery-Cornell Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

HSS is the nation's top-ranked, elective musculoskeletal specialty hospital affiliated with NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medicine, offering a five-year (frequently six-year with a step-out research year) orthopaedic surgery residency built around exceptional subspecialty case volume - including the world's highest arthroplasty volume, dedicated level 1 trauma rotations at Weill Cornell and NYP Queens, and specialty exposure through Memorial Sloan Kettering (tumor) and pediatric/hand/foot-ankle services. Research is not optional: every resident must complete a project and apply for an OREF grant during PGY4, with many pursuing an additional dedicated research year or a concurrent degree (e.g., MPH), supported by dedicated research staff, biomechanics/tissue-engineering infrastructure, and structured research mentorship. The program emphasizes graduated autonomy (PGY1 primary on-call, PGY2 independent night float), longitudinal faculty mentorship, and a flipped-classroom didactic model, and it explicitly orients graduates toward competitive fellowships and academic or high-level private-practice leadership roles. HSS appears to value residents who combine strong operative aptitude with genuine investment in scholarly output and eventual subspecialty fellowship training, matching only nine residents per year into an intensely mentorship-driven, tradition-bound culture.