The third-year student clerkship in orthopaedic surgery trains medical students to understand how musculoskeletal disease effects of the lives of patients and how these diseases are diagnosed and treated. Students spend approximately one month at one of the following IU School of Medicine – Indianapolis campus clinical partner facilities: Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital (Joints), IU Health North Hospital (General), Eskenazi Health (Trauma/General), Riley Hospital for Children (Pediatrics), or University (Oncology). This clerkship training is valuable to students no matter what medical or surgical discipline they choose to pursue.
Students who take the Orthopaedic Surgery Clerkship learn how to take a musculoskeletal history and perform a musculoskeletal physical examination. The rotation also helps students understand treatment paradigms for the orthopaedic problems they see. Students attend weekly orthopaedic conferences and a required clerkship conference. Final evaluation is based on assessment by the orthopaedic surgery faculty and residents who consider factors such as performance, attitude, interest in learning, development of orthopaedic skills, evidence of reading, attention to patient care and participation in lectures and case conferences.