Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program - Riyadh | King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre

Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program - Riyadh

Program Overview:

The residency program in Orthopedic Surgery is part of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties orthopedic programs. King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (Gen. Org.) is one of the six (6) major hospitals in the Kingdom, and junior (R1-R2) and senior residents (R3, R4, and R5) rotate in the Hospital. Residents are involved in patient care at the inpatient and outpatient areas. They cover the Emergency Department and assist the staff in the operating rooms. The residents are exposed to very complex cases in pediatric spine, joint replacements, and bone oncology. They attend sarcoma, multidisciplinary, spina bifida, spasticity, hemophiliac, and osteoporosis clinics. The residents are exposed to a variety of tertiary cases which cannot be seen in other hospitals.

King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (Gen. Org.) is the only center for musculoskeletal tumors, adult and pediatric spines, joint revisions, hemophilia, spasticity cases and obstetric brachial plexus injury. The program offers daily teaching and bedside physical sign demonstration, patient safety practices guidance, and orientation to policies about informed consent (site markings, objectives and rationale for surgery, outcome of surgery and information about possible postoperative complications). The department conducts daily clinical rounds, pathology, morbidity and mortality meetings, journal clubs and weekly grand rounds, and the trainees are actively involved in these.

Welcome Message

Thank you for your interest in the Orthopedics department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and research center. As can be seen within our program aims, the philosophy and mission of our department is simple: to educate and train the next generation of leaders within our field in the operating room, the clinic, research and the community. Our fellowship-trained faculty and staff across the department are dedicated to this mission and take great pride in assuring the educational mission is achieved.

Via a combination of didactic learning, unique research opportunities and early clinical/operative experience, we have been able to successfully assist our trainees to achieve their career goals in obtaining high-quality fellowship opportunities, research and ultimately their careers. Our residents are exposed to a multitude of disease processes and orthopedic cases ranging from simple to highly complex and are a vital component to the team caring for all patients.

We are proud of what we have accomplished as a department in the past and look forward to the continued growth and innovation which is to come. Our residency program is at the heart of this innovation and a core pillar to our global departmental mission. We feel as though there are many unique aspects to our program which help us accomplish these goals, many of which can be found within the pages of this website. Certainly, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thamer Alraiyes

Consultant Orthopedic Surgery

Training Structure

During the first- and second-year resident will rotate through the following specialties:

General surgery - 3 months

Intensive care unit - 3 months

Adult trauma/orthopedic trauma - 3 months

Plastic surgery and/or vascular surgery and/or neurosurgery - 3 months

General orthopedics (sports medicine/arthroplasty/spine) - 3 months

Orthopedic trauma - 3 months

Pediatric orthopedics - 3 months

During the third- to fifth-year resident will rotate through the following specialties:

Upper extremities - 3 months

Spine 3 - months

Foot and ankle - 3 months

Orthopedic trauma - 3 months X 3 rotations = total of 9 months (one per year)

Pediatric orthopedics - 3 months X 2 rotations = total of 6 months (on different years)

Orthopedic oncology - 3 months

Arthroplasty 3 - months

Sports Medicine - 3 months

Elective 3 months that can be taken locally or abroad upon the program directors’ recommendation.

Educational Activities

Morning Report (7:30-8:00 a.m.):

Daily morning report in which cases seen during the oncall time gets presented and discussed between the residents, fellows, and consultants.

Thursday Half Day Activities (13:00 – 16:00 p.m.):

Resident is released officially at 13:00 p.m. from the service provided that the resident should endorse the patients to the senior physician on duty.

It is a weekly session that runs in an interactive scientific way of discussion in presence of senior consultant presenting different topic of a common yield practice.

It may involve reviewing MCQs, topic of clinical approaches, physical examination, or usage of different clinical procedures skills.

Orthopedics Boot Camp (September of every calendar year):

A course directed toward upcoming and junior orthopedics resident held in September of every year. It is a Hands-on course involving common principles in Orthopedic Surgery, Cases commonly encountered in Emergency Department, and basic skills needed by Orthopedic Surgery physicians.

Goal is to introduce up-and coming Junior Orthopedic Residents to basics of management of everyday emergency cases, overview of principles to general surgical skills, and basic sciences of the Orthopedic specialty with real time application.

Visiting professor day (Annually):

The Orthopedic Department annually hosts leaders in the field of Orthopedics from around the globe. The topic of these Professor visits rotate through the services, including Upper extremity, Paediatric Orthopedics, Spine, Sports Medicine, Trauma, Arthroplasty, Tumor, and Foot & Ankle.

It includes case presentation, discussion, research presentation and department recognition ceremony.