UC San Diego prides itself in research, as well as clinical excellence. Most of the clinical training programs here reflect the emphasis on research. Residents will have the opportunity to participate in a one-year research fellowship. This experience is in addition to the regular clinical training. Specific details can be discussed directly with the Residency program director and the Vice-Chair of Research.
The research track resident will follow the same training as the five-year clinical track, but will spend one year after the PGY1 year conducting research within the lab. The research track resident will resume as a PGY2 clinical trainee after the research year.
The research year may consist of clinical, translational, or basic research. The resident has input into planning as well as performing projects for the research year. The lab year emphasizes
critical
analysis of the literature, research techniques, statistical tools, and
regulatory requirements. The outcome of
this year is resident-driven contributions to the Orthopaedic literature, which
should serve as a spring-board for a career as a clinician-scientist.
The
research facilities for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery are maintained at
the Altman Clinical Translational Research Institute (ACTRI), Thornton and
Jacob’s Medical Centers, Hillcrest Medical Center, Rady Children's Hospital, and
the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. Sophisticated tools and techniques
are available in these labs for bioengineering, physiology, biochemical, hard
and soft tissue morphology, tissue culture, and bioengineering. Core laboratories within the
Department include anatomical and histological preparation areas, light,
confocal, and electron microscopy, radiography, human and animal surgery,
biochemistry, physiology, cell culture, proteomics, genomics, and metabolomics.
Current research areas are funded by the NIH, DoD, VA, NSF, and a number of
industry and Foundation grants.