McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Program

Program Identity & Fit

Northwestern's Orthopaedic Surgery Residency is an academic, university-affiliated program built around rigorous subspecialty exposure across three distinct partner hospitals - Northwestern Memorial Hospital (tertiary/quaternary adult care), Lurie Children's Hospital (pediatric orthopaedics), and Stroger Hospital of Cook County (a safety-net, high-acuity trauma population) - giving residents a deliberately broad clinical range from private tertiary care to public trauma. Research is structurally embedded rather than optional: two dedicated PGY-3 research rotations, department-funded resident grants, translational/bench opportunities through the Hsu laboratory, and a culminating Thesis Day presentation reflect an expectation of one to two completed projects per resident, with the Starzl Academy formalizing physician-scientist development for those who want it. The program explicitly measures its own success by graduates obtaining competitive subspecialty fellowships across all orthopaedic areas, signaling a fellowship-bound, subspecialization-oriented culture rather than a generalist or community-practice track. Six residents are selected per class into a traditional core surgical PGY-1 year, with simulation training (NCASE lab) and named national course participation (AO Basic Course, OTA) reinforcing a structured, academically rigorous training identity.