Residency Information

Introductory letter

From the chair of the resident selection committee

Dear Orthopedic Residency Applicant:

Thank you for your interest in the Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program at the University of Washington.

The University of Washington Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program is a fully approved and accredited five year program which begins with the PGY-I year. Most of our residents are selected during their senior year of medical school and are required to successfully complete a PGY-1 year of training at the University of Washington under the direction of the Department of General Surgery. Candidates will be selected into the program through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) at the PGY-1 level.

We will be participating in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) for the 2005 Match. Please contact your Student Affairs Office for processing procedures for ERAS applications.

Currently, eight residents will be selected for PGY-1, 2006.  There are eight residents at  PGY-II  level of training, and six residents at PGY-III,  PGY-IV and PGY-V. This is not a pyramidal program and once a resident is accepted at the PGY-I level, it is expected that he/she will complete the program assuming satisfactory performance.

We require a letter of recommendation and transcript from your Dean. In addition, we require three letters of recommendation with the University of Washington recommendation forms. Input from senior orthopedists are particularly helpful, but they should only be used if you are well known to that individual. Because interview time is limited, and because we do not wish to waste the applicant's time or money, only competitive applicants are invited to meet with the selection committee. We ask that you not make frequent calls regarding the possibility of an interview. You will be notified by mail and then appropriate arrangements can be made. Interviews are usually held during the month of January. In order to assure complete and timely review of your application, we strongly urge you to have all materials in by November 01, 2005.

We attempt to select residents who are good doctors, who will be a pleasure to have in our program for five years, and who will reflect well on our program once they have completed it. Thus, in the applications and interviews, we are looking for evidence of clinical skills, personality and character, ability to work hard, and past achievements whether it be in medicine, research, athletics, the arts, or other fields. We are very proud of our program and want to continue to fill it with good people.

I hope that this letter and the rest of the program description will answer most of your questions about the University of Washington Orthopedic Residency Program. I would be happy to try to answer any others if you would care to send them to me.

Thank you again for your interest.

Respectfully,
Douglas P. Hanel, M.D., Professor
Director, Orthopedic Education