Trauma Fellowship

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Past Fellow Testimonials

The fellowship experience at UMMC is unquestionably unique. There are very few single-fellow fellowships at an institution with UMMC's trauma volume. You are exposed to complex cases in difficult patients every single day. It is extremely rare to have a day of "bread and butter" trauma in the fellow room. Furthermore, you are immersed in a culture of orthopaedic trauma care that has been developed over decades by true experts in the field who have spent their careers running a high-volume trauma center with a low number of providers. Early in fellowship, I guarantee you will learn techniques that you haven't seen before or even heard of. As you progress through fellowship, your autonomy grows immensely and you will get repetitions on hard cases that allow you to determine your own workflow moving forward. This is particularly true for acetabular and pelvic cases, which are plentiful and for which you are permitted graduated autonomy throughout the year. The opportunity to take weekend call as an attending is rare in modern trauma fellowships but serves as an important and valuable marker of your preparedness for attendinghood throughout the second half of the year.

Beyond the complexity and volume of cases, the fellowship provides a great environment to develop as a teacher. The fellow at UMMC plays an important role in the education of residents, and you get the chance to get to know the residents in a way that isn't possible in larger fellowships. Being the fellow at UMMC drastically improved my ability to work with trainees. With respect to mentorship from the attendings, it is hard not to develop relationships with a small group of people when you operate with them every week. The attendings taught me as much outside the operating room as they did about surgery during my time in fellowship. these aspects of the fellowship shouldn't be undervalued - they were probably my favorite part of the experience. Overall, I had an exceptional year as the UMMC trauma fellow. I wouldn't trade it. As an attending, at a high-volume academic Level 1 trauma center, I can honestly say that I felt completely prepared to step into my role from day 1. I would recommend the fellowship without reservation.

Dillon C. O'Neill, M.D. 2023-2024

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My fellowship experience at the University of Mississippi Medical Center was transformational on multiple fronts. Clinically, the volume and complexity of cases on a day to day basis was astounding. You will do a lot of complex pelvis, acetabulum, and periarticular work. Diversity of attending backgrounds is another advantage (Harborview, Shock Trauma, OrthoIndy) giving you multiple perspectives and approaches to trauma care. The staff are very much engaged with the trauma community on a large scale giving you opportunities to participate in research, book chapters, and expand your ortho trauma social/professional network. You will find as you participate in national courses and conferences that Orthopaedic Trauma at the University of Mississippi Medical Center is very well respected. There is no scut work here. This is truly an education-focused training experience where you are encouraged and supported to scrub the cases you feel are most important and valuable for your training. The residents are incredible. They work hard and surgically are much more skilled and competent than you would expect for their respective PGY training year. If you're doing it right, they will teach you as much as you teach them. In addition to exponential growth as a surgeon, I also learned how to be a better (and more patient) teacher. The culture of teaching is impressive. If you think the trauma chief is in a room doing a case, you'd be wrong 90% of the time. The trauma chief, in fact, will be in the room patiently coaching or supervising the junior resident through the case. Finally, the OR staff are unbelievable. There are scrub techs, nurses, XR techs, and others with a lot of experience. They treat you right and also have a lot of wisdom to share. i am grateful for my opportunity to train at UMMC and for the investment the attendings, residents, and staff made on me. Big thank you to Drs Russell, Graves, Bergin, Morellato and the incredible residents and staff!

Christopher K. Folau, D.O. 2022-2023

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Experience requires hands-on training and cannot rely solely on simulations or textbooks. At Mississippi Medical Center, the case volume and complexity are amongst the top in the country and the faculty are renowned in their fields. When considering fellowships in PGY4, despite UMMC being in its first fellowship year, I knew it was the right place to secure my future as a traumatologist. From day one, attendings treated me as an equal and served as incredible mentors, ultimately friends. With only one fellow selected per year, there was ample flexibility to pick cases tailored to your interests and development needs including pelvis and acetabulum, periarticular fractures, and malunion/nonunions. The fellow’s success while at UMMC is of utmost importance, and your role is to operate, not handle the floor work. The support does not begin and end with the attendings; everyone, from the residents to the OR staff, is invested in your fellowship experience. Additionally, I also had the opportunity to learn how to teach residents under the mentorship of Dr. Graves and take advantage of UMMC’s robust research department. As I enter my second year of practice at my trauma center, I can say, without hesitation, that my fellowship at UMMC not only prepared me but provided a distinct advantage.

Scott Polansky D.O. 2021-2022

When I was looking for a good fellowship, a mentor told me “Go where the pathology is”. For an aspiring orthopedic traumatologist like myself that place was University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). This fellowship has the combination of expert mentors and high trauma volume that affords an unmatched experience. As a single fellow I had the choice between multiple cases each day that have prepared me to operate comfortably on my own at a Level 1 trauma center in an underserved area with few partners. From pelvis and acetabular work and periarticular fractures and malunions I had the opportunity to actively operate alongside experts and learn from them every step of the way. My time was respected as a fellow, the residents do a fantastic job offloading scut work and ensuring that your primary focus is learning and operating. The graduated autonomy is no cliché at UMMC. I progressed from assisting to doing complex trauma cases including pelvic and acetabular work with nothing but verbal guidance from attendings. It has made my transition into practice much more comfortable and even fun.

Marshall Gillette, DO 2020-2021

My Fellowship experience at the University of Mississippi was incredible. The volume and complexity of cases seen DAILY was far beyond what I anticipated. There is zero scut work. The service will run the same with or without you. The residents are perhaps the best part of this program. They worked very hard to ensure my only responsibilities were to learn as much as possible and to be a functioning member of the Trauma team, which was phenomenal. As the only fellow you will have free choice over what cases you will be doing on any particular day. The attendings are incredible surgeons, mentors, and people. Having just completed my first month of practice at a Level 1 trauma center I can say without a doubt that this program will prepare you for anything. If I had it to do all over again I would absolutely still choose the University of Mississippi Medical Center and recommend them without hesitation.

Joshua N. Milby, DO 2019-2020