University of Chicago Program

Program Identity & Fit

The University of Chicago Orthopaedic Surgery Residency is an academic, university-based program anchored at the South Side's tertiary/quaternary Center for Care and Discovery (Level 1 adult trauma) and Comer Children's Hospital, supplemented by NorthShore community sites, giving residents exposure across eight subspecialty services (foot/ankle, shoulder, sports, spine, pediatrics, hand, oncology, joint reconstruction). Research is structurally embedded rather than incidental: a dedicated 10-week PGY3 research block, an in-house Molecular Oncology Lab with animal research capability, and an outcomes-focused Operative Performance Research Institute give residents genuine bench-to-outcomes exposure alongside protected didactics, subspecialty conferences, and a longitudinal surgical simulation curriculum. Nearly all recent graduates pursue fellowship training (sports, hand, spine, joint reconstruction, oncology, foot/ankle) at nationally recognized programs, signaling a strong subspecialization/fellowship pipeline rather than a community-practice orientation. The program's stated CORE values and repeated resident testimony emphasize serving the South Side/Chicagoland community alongside tertiary complexity, suggesting it values residents comfortable navigating both high-acuity academic medicine and a mission of local community impact and health equity.