The faculty includes ten full-time and
three part-time orthopaedic surgeons, plus two PhD's. Clinical facilities include the Louisiana
State University Health Sciences Center, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, and the
Shriners Hospital for Children, (an active children's hospital adjacent to the Medical School).
The resident receives comprehensive training
in all phases of orthopaedic surgery, at both the clinical and basic science levels. The strongest
part of the program is the extensive broad based clinical training received. Overall, the
combined facilities provide extensive experience in outpatient and inpatient care, including
trauma, reconstructive surgery, children's surgery, and rehabilitation. Each resident performs
an abundance of operative procedures, and he/she is expected to demonstrate competent knowledge
of the relevant anatomic details, knowledge of the key steps required, and technical competence
for the necessary surgical skills. Staff supervision incorporates the active participation
of a full-time academic faculty together with talented private practitioners.
Of major importance is the fact that the
residents have direct responsibility for patient care in all hospitals, while the attending
physicians act as consultants. Because of this, most initial decisions must be made by residents.
This type of responsibility creates an intense incentive to learn. Many of these decisions
are later changed but the resident who has been actively involved in making the initial decision
learns even more when such a decision is changed.
Instruction in the basic science aspects
of the musculoskeletal system includes an integrated seminar series spanning the four years
of residency, complemented by "Basic Science" rotations designed for concentrated study, particularly
in orthopaedic pathology and anatomy, and for the development of individual projects. The
presence of an engineer and a biophysicist on the full-time orthopaedic faculty, together
with an excellent bioengineering laboratory, plus a cell and tissue culture laboratory, offers
an opportunity to develop special skills, whether in biomechanics, biomaterials, or basic
studies of bone and other musculoskeletal tissues. In addition, each resident is expected
to complete academic projects, including a laboratory project by the end of the third year.
This type of endeavor adds a dimension to specialized training otherwise unobtainable, because
a resident who plans and conducts an independent investigation and creates an original report
acquires comprehensive knowledge of a specialized subject, and this in turn expands his/her
interests. The process also sharpens the resident's ability to critically analyze all types
of information, regardless of the source, thereby culminating the educational process.
The program seeks those with a natural
inquisitiveness toward the ordinary as well as the unusual, and those having a skepticism
which refuses to automatically accept medical dogma, regardless of its source. The dedication
of the candidate to the clinical care of his patients and to his education, must when necessary,
be strong enough to override all other interests and activities.
Further information may be obtained by
contacting:
James A. Albright, M.D., Professor and
Chairman
P.O. Box 33932
Shreveport, LA 71130-3932 -
Phone: 318-675-6180
Fax: 318-675-6186
email: jalbri@ortho.sh.lsuhsc.edu