University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Program

Program Identity & Fit

UT Southwestern's Orthopaedic Surgery Residency is a high-volume, university-based academic program anchored by five distinct clinical sites, including Parkland Hospital (a Level I trauma center with over 800 orthopedic trauma admissions and 260 pelvic/acetabular fixations annually), Children's Health and Scottish Rite for Children for pediatric orthopedics, the Dallas VA, and Zale Lipshy for spine. The five-year curriculum rotates residents through 10 services and includes distinctive international electives at Auckland City Hospital (New Zealand) and Graubünden Cantonal Hospital (Switzerland), reflecting an emphasis on breadth of operative exposure and global orthopedic training rather than a narrow subspecialty focus. The department supports its own trauma and spine fellowships and produces graduates who pursue a wide range of subspecialty fellowships (hand, sports, adult reconstruction, trauma), suggesting fellowship attainment is a normative outcome rather than an exception. The program's identity centers on high-acuity trauma volume, structured subspecialty rotations at dedicated children's and VA hospitals, and progressive resident autonomy within a tertiary academic system.