Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery Fellowships

Shriners Children’s Portland has three dedicated private operating rooms running Monday through Friday.

The fellow will typically average four days in the operating room each week, with the range being no less than three and no more than five. We utilize advanced technology and techniques, including:

• O-arm navigation, 3D printing, gait-analysis derived surgical plans
• Halo gravity traction, serial casting, MAGEC rods, tethering, pediatric cervical spine
• Periacetabular osteotomy, hip scopes
• External fixators, PRECICE nails, rotationplasty

The inpatient unit at Shriners Children’s Portland has 29 beds and is utilized for admissions for medically complex patients necessitating preoperative optimization, postoperative care, and infusions such as bisphosphonates in the osteogenesis imperfecta population.

• The inpatient unit is staffed by an APP seven days a week.
• Inpatient support includes a dedicated Shriners Children’s pediatric hospitalist, Arija I. Iverson, M.D., respiratory therapy, physical and occupational therapy, APPs, inpatient pharmacy and nursing.

The outpatient clinic at Shriners Children’s Portland consists of 20 exam rooms, four cast rooms and two treatment rooms. Nearby is the radiology suite which includes an EOS and DEXA scan with a full staff of radiologic technologists. Our clinic support staff consists of nurses and medical assistants, including those who specialize in casting.

In addition to a daily walk-in fracture and sports injury clinic, orthopedic clinics and afternoon preoperative clinics, there are also numerous multidisciplinary specialty clinics. Learn about our 12 specialty clinics.

Additional outpatient offerings include:

• State-of-the-art motion analysis center, one of only two in the Pacific Northwest
• Therapy services: onsite physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language pathology
• Behavioral health services
• Pediatric Orthotic and Prosthetic Services – custom-made orthotics and prosthetics in-house for not only our hospital but also for multiple Shriners Children’s locations

Although Shriners Children’s does not have an emergency department, because most pediatric orthopedic injuries can be managed as an outpatient procedure, we offer a daily walk-in fracture and sports injury clinic. This clinic is exceptionally popular and busy. Sometimes these patients need surgical intervention, which we are able to schedule in an expedited fashion.

Daily morning rounds are held at either 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m., and are attended by all trainees and faculty, along with members of the inpatient team, including APPs, behavioral health, nursing and therapy.

Most clinic days end around 4:30 p.m., and surgical cases are not scheduled past 5 p.m.

Call is split equally between the fellow and three to five residents ranging from PGY2 to PGY5. Because there is no emergency room, call is considered light, typically fielding a couple of questions from the floor and one patient phone call during an average overnight shift.

To make the most of your time as a fellow, protected time for educational experiences is built into the program. Additional education opportunities are as follows:

• Wednesday Lecture Series (attending, fellow and resident lectures)
• Thursday Pre/Post Conference
• Motion Analysis Conference
• Two in-house guest lectureships each year
• Opportunity to attend two courses (generally International Pediatric Orthopaedic Symposium in December and Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) in May, although Baltimore Deformity, AACPDM, AAOS and SRS will be considered

• Two days clinical, two days operative and one day research/education.
• One weekend per month home call. Trauma call is backup to attending surgeon.

Fellows will spend three months on the general service and three months on the primarily spine service. The remaining six months are tailored to the fellow’s interests and career goals. We offer both a spinal-deformity focus track and a general-pediatric focused track. Both tracks include exposure to all pediatric orthopedics, and you can focus your time based on your interests.

Case volume is approximately 300 per year.

Each fellow is expected to work on at least one research project during their year with Shriners Children's Portland. With a robust clinical research department on-site, we host multiple ongoing clinical trials including ongoing longitudinal studies. The schedule for each fellow permits for at least a half day each week of dedicated research time, and more time is available if needed.

Shriners Children’s Portland has a motion analysis center on-site, offering prospective and retrospective studies for gait and prospective options for sports. Our current IRB system is quite efficient, and retrospective IRBs are generally finished within a month's time. This allows fellows to get a study up and running, and there is always the option to join a study already in progress.

Fellows can expect a dedicated work station within the medical staff office. Additionally, fellows are invited to take optional moonlighting calls during their fellowship year, which includes a private call room and an incredible view of Mt. Hood.

Compensation and benefits:

• Salary based on Oregon Health and Science University PGY-6 Pay Scale.
• 200 hours paid time off (includes vacation, sick and holiday time)
• Optional in-house call – 1:4 weekend call with attending surgeon backup