Orthopedic Adult Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship

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About the Fellowship

Houston Methodist Hospital is a private, nonprofit institution where fellows will receive most of their training. It has earned worldwide recognition since it opened its doors in 1919. As a private, adult teaching hospital affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College, it offers the latest innovations in medical, surgical and diagnostic techniques. Houston Methodist has been ranked the number one hospital in Texas by U.S. News & World Report for the seventh year in a row. It is among the country's largest nonprofit health care providers.


Houston Methodist Orthopedics & Sports Medicine offers a one-year, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited fellowship. This fellowship is one of the first programs in the country to earn AAHKS recognition. Houston Methodist Hospital serves as a regional referral area for complex cases, which will broaden the fellow's experience. In addition to traditional hip and knee replacement surgery, the arthroplasty surgeons perform uni-compartmental knee arthroplasty, osteotomies of the knee and joint preservation of the hip. The fellow will participate in a large revision surgery practice and will assist in the operative treatment of patients with infected joint replacement and concomitant severe bone loss. Both modular and non-modular prostheses are used for revision hip surgery.


Houston Methodist Hospital has 60 designated orthopedic surgery beds on the seventh floor of the Dunn Tower. Of the 20 orthopedic operating room suites, about seven are dedicated daily to adult joint reconstruction orthopedic surgery. Houston Methodist Orthopedics and Sports Medicine represents one of the most active orthopedic surgery services in the United States. The faculty outpatient offices are located in the Outpatient Center, which is connected by walkways to the main hospital building. The orthopedic surgery department occupies the entire 25th floor of the Outpatient Center. The orthopedic library, physical therapy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) imaging are all located on other floors between Outpatient Center and the Smith Tower.

25

Active Clinical Trials

370,265

Patient Encounters in 2024

 

95

Peer-Reviewed Publications in 2024

29,429

Surgical Cases in 2024

Curriculum

The Orthopedic Adult Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Houston Methodist is designed to provide the fellows with a well-rounded clinical and high-level research experience in total hip and knee replacement.

 

Houston Methodist is recognized by U.S. News and World Report as the #1 hospital in Texas and our Department of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine is nationally recognized as #12 in the United States. Houston Methodist Hospital is located in the largest medical center in the world and serves as a regional referral center for complex cases. In addition to primary hip and knee replacement surgery, the arthroplasty surgeons perform unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, osteotomies around the hip and knee, and revision hip and knee replacement for all indications. The fellow will participate in all aspects of clinical care and will be exposed to a wide range of surgical cases, approaches, implants, and leading-edge technologies.

 

Fellows will also develop an understanding of ethical, socioeconomic, and medicolegal issues that affect patient care. They will learn how to apply appropriate utilization management and cost containment measures while providing quality patient care. Houston Methodist has an outpatient program for primary hip and knee arthroplasty and we will strive to teach the fellows how to be successful in practice with outpatient TJA.

 

The Houston Methodist fellowship is Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited, and provides many didactic activities - including weekly orthopedic conferences involving active clinical and research divisions and the orthopedic surgery residents. Participation in institutional orientation, education programs, and other activities involving medical center faculty is required.

 

Didactic activities of the fellowship include a weekly total joint replacement teaching conference with a defined syllabus designed to cover the field of hip and knee surgery. At the completion of the academic year, the fellow will have accumulated a library of didactic presentations. In addition to providing comprehensive general orthopedic care, the orthopedic surgery service maintains a strong research effort that further enhances its clinical services.

 

The fellow will have a designated research day every week to devote the necessary time and attention to the study and completion of the research topic or topics. The goal of the fellowship year is to enable the fellow to practice adult reconstructive surgery at the highest clinical level and to equip the fellow for a possible academic career. The surgical case mix between hip and knee surgery is evenly split. Around 30 percent of the cases logged by fellows each year are revision surgical cases.

  • Hip Experience
  • Knee Experience
  • Implants
  • Block Rotation Schedule
  • Rotation with Timothy S. Brown, MD
  • Rotation with Stephen Incavo, MD and Robert S. Neff, MD
  • Rotation with Kevin J. Park, MD
  • Hip Experience

    Hip Experience

    Our primary hip replacement practice will expose the fellows to both simple and complex diagnoses, and to a range of exposures including direct anterior approach (DAA) and mini posterior. Revision hip surgery experience will teach extensile approaches, trochanteric osteotomies, a range of complex acetabular reconstruction techniques including jumbo cups +/- augments, acetabular cup-cage constructs, custom triflange acetabular reconstruction, and articulating spacer placement. Both modular and non-modular femoral stems are used for primary and revision hip surgeries. Periprosthetic fractures, geriatric hip fractures, and periprosthetic joint infection treatment will also be included during the fellowship year. Although the fellowship is predominantly focused on reconstruction, fellows will have the opportunity to learn hip preservation with PAO and femoral osteotomies with Dr. Park. Hip arthroscopy cases with Dr. Josh Harris will also be available for those fellows interested in a comprehensive hip practice.
  • Knee Experience

    Knee Experience

    The knee experience at Houston Methodist starts with osteotomies around the knee and continues through unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA), total knee arthroplasty (TKA), and revision knee arthroplasty. Primary TKA will expose the fellows to both conventional and robot-assisted techniques, as well as to complex diagnoses. TKA revision experience will expose the fellows to extensile exposures (quadriceps-snip, tibial tubercle osteotomy, rare V-Y turndown) and a variety of safe techniques for implant removal. A wide range of preoperative diagnoses will introduce the fellows to complex procedures including bone defect management with porous cones/sleeves, standard augments, cemented and press-fit stems, hinged prostheses, megaprostheses, extensor mechanism reconstruction with mesh, articulating and static spacer placement, and periprosthetic fracture management around the knee.
  • Implants

    Implants

    The teaching faculty use a variety of implant brands and designs for primary and revision hip and knee surgery. The fellows will be exposed to many different implants from the following companies: Zimmer-Biomet, Microport, DePuy, Smith & Nephew, Stryker, Conformis.
  • Block Rotation Schedule

    Block Rotation Schedule

    We have three rotations in our adult reconstructive surgery fellowship training. Each fellow will rotate for four total months in each rotation.
  • Rotation with Timothy S. Brown, MD

    Rotation with Timothy S. Brown, MD

    Fellows will be exposed to hip replacement surgery performed via the posterior approach. Dr. Brown will occasionally perform anterolateral approaches for certain indications (excessive femoral bow, prior anterolateral approach) and for teaching (hip fractures). He performs robotic-assisted total hip replacement for about 50% of his cases.


    Dr. Brown performs robotic-assisted UKA through mid vastus approach and robotic-assisted TKA through medial parapatellar approach. He uses a range of implant designs depending on the patient and pathology (cemented and cementless TKA, CR and PS). Dr. Brown often performs revision hip and revision knee surgery.

  • Rotation with Stephen Incavo, MD and Robert S. Neff, MD

    Rotation with Stephen Incavo, MD and Robert S. Neff, MD

    Fellows will be exposed to hip replacement surgery performed via the posterior approach (Incavo) and the DAA (Neff).

    Dr. Incavo performs osteotomies around the knee, as well as UKA. In knee replacement surgery, Dr. Incavo uses PCL-substituting designs.

    Dr. Neff performs unicompartmental arthroplasty, robotic knee arthroplasty, and uses PCL substituting design knee prosthesis.
  • Rotation with Kevin J. Park, MD

    Rotation with Kevin J. Park, MD

    Fellows will be exposed to hip preservation surgery with Dr. Park (PAO, femoral osteotomies) and the direct anterior approach. Dr. Park performs UKA, robotic TKA, and uses medial-stabilized design knee prosthesis. He often performs revision hip and revision knee surgery.

Eligibility & Application

Criteria

To be eligible for a fellowship position, certain criteria must be met:

 

  • Have successfully completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited orthopedic surgery residency training program
  • Good professional character with at least three letters of recommendation attesting to your academic and personal qualifications
  • A graduate of a U.S. or Canadian medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), or a college of osteopathic medicine in the U.S. accredited by the AOA, or a medical school outside the U.S. and Canada with a current valid certificate from the ECFMG prior to appointment, or have completed a Fifth Pathway program through an LCME-accredited medical school.
  • Be licensable in the State of Texas and obtain before beginning training a physician-in-training (PIT) permit or a valid Texas medical license
  • Permanent resident status
  • We will not be accepting applications of Foreign Medical Graduates, unless they have met the above criteria (www.acgme.org).

Responsibility

Houston Methodist is committed to improving the health of our patients, employees, and communities around us. As a health care provider, it’s our responsibility to promote a healthier environment for our employees.

 

  • Drug and Tobacco Screening- Job seekers will be tested for nicotine and drug usage during the post-offer physical. If a job seeker tests positive for nicotine use, including nicotine gum and patches, the offer will be rescinded, and individuals will be given the opportunity to participate in a free Houston Methodist-provided tobacco cessation program. Job seekers wishing to reapply after testing positive for nicotine may do so 90 days after the date the initial offer was rescinded. If the job seeker tests positive for drug use, the offer will be rescinded. Job seekers wishing to reapply after the drug screening is positive may do so one year after the date the initial offer was rescinded.
  • Background Check - Prior to employment start date, job seekers must complete a criminal background check.

Materials

To begin the application process, you must submit the necessary materials through San Francisco Match: 

 

  • Complete MATCH application
  • Personal statement
  • Wallet-sized color photograph
  • USMLE transcript
  • ECFMG status report (International Medical Graduates (IMGs) only)
  • Three letters of recommendation (including letter from program director of current training program)

Get in Touch

Program Contact

Jessica Q. Walsh, MFA
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
6445 Main St., Suite 2300
Houston, TX 77030
Tel: 713.441.3892
jqwalsh@houstonmethodist.org

Program Director

Timothy S. Brown, MD
Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
6445 Main St., Suite 2500
Houston, TX 77030
Fax: 713.790.2058
tsbrown2@houstonmethodist.org

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