Welcome back listeners! In this Conversations episode of The Bonehead Podcast, we interview two stellar medical students who are currently on their orthopedic surgery research years between their third and fourth years of medical school. We are joined by a friend of the show, Ms. Olivia Tracey, a fellow Downstate student who is currently a Leon Root Research Fellow in the Department of Pediatric Orthopedics at the Hospital for Special Surgery. We are also joined by an outstanding Mr. Perry Lim, who is a student at Chicago Medical School of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and currently an exceptional research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School Department of Arthroplasty. We touch on vital themes pertinent to understanding the orthopedic surgery research year, including the decision to pursue it in the first place, specifics of their positions, essential skills and characteristics, and advice for those interested in undertaking such a fellowship. These two mentors generously offered their salient advice to us as we navigated this process, and we were inspired to share that with you, our listeners, with the hope that it could help those currently applying to research year positions or considering them in the future.

References:

Tidd JL, Piuzzi NS. A Research Year for Medical Students. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2024 Jan 3;106(1):78-83. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.23.00340. Epub 2024 Jan 3. PMID: 38170203.

Swiontkowski MF. The Orthopaedic Research Year: Faculty Mentors Must Hold up Their Part of the Deal. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2024 Jan 3;106(1):1. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.23.01167. Epub 2024 Jan 3. PMID: 38170202.