Orthopaedic surgery residency training program approved at Marshall
 

Marshall University has become one of just two United States schools since 1995 to have a first-time orthopedic surgery residency training program approved, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III announced Wednesday, August 15, in Charleston.

The new program will play an essential role in meeting the health needs of West Virginians, Manchin said.
 

“Here in West Virginia, we have the nation’s second-oldest population and more than our share of high-risk occupations, but our state lags far behind the rest of the nation in the availability of orthopedic surgeons,” he said. “As a result, our people sometimes have to travel too far or wait too long to get the services they need. Marshall’s new program will bring us important new resources, and it should become a pipeline that helps supply doctors who can expand top-notch orthopedic services to underserved areas of the state.”

Manchin cited a 2004 national study by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons that showed only one state – Michigan – had a lower number of orthopedic surgeons for each 100,000 people. West Virginia’s rate was 4.5 orthopedists per 100,000 people, compared to the national rate of 6.2. The study is available at this site.
 

Marshall’s program will double the number of orthopedic surgeons who can be trained in West Virginia, bringing the total to 30.
 

MU President Stephen J. Kopp said the program is a logical outgrowth of advances in medical education at Marshall.
 

“Marshall’s medical school has been working diligently to complete the rigorous work required to earn program approval from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education for our new residency program in orthopedic surgery,” Kopp said. “This new graduate medical education program will take advantage of the outstanding group of physicians assembled by the Department of Orthopaedics. Orthopedic residents accepted into this program will experience leading-edge training in a field that has seen remarkable advances in diagnosis and treatment options. As new orthopedic surgeons complete their training at Marshall University and Cabell Huntington Hospital, all of West Virginia will benefit, especially the rural and underserved areas of our state and region.”
 

Kopp said the growing orthopedic surgery program will complement the services of the new Department of Neuroscience, which will offer both neurosurgery and neurology.

 

Dr. Ali Oliashirazi, chair of Marshall’s Department of Orthopaedics, said the residents will be based primarily at Cabell Huntington Hospital.
 

“Cabell Huntington has been wonderfully helpful in making sure we have the facilities and financial backing we need to offer top-notch training,” he said. “Its support was vital in making this program a reality.”

He said Marshall will accept its first residents for the training year beginning next summer.
 

Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program Facts

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The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has granted approval for an orthopedic surgery residency at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. Marshall is approved to accept three students per year in the 5-year program.
 

·    Marshall’s program is one of only two new orthopedics programs to be approved nationwide since 1995 (the other is in Detroit). The residency director will be Dr. Ali Oliashirazi, chairman of Marshall’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
 

·    Marshall will recruit both Year 1 and Year 2 residents for the training year beginning July 1, 2008. Residents will do their surgical work primarily at Cabell Huntington Hospital.
 

·    Driven in part by new and enhanced diagnostic and treatment options, there is an ever-increasing demand nationally for providing musculoskeletal training to medical students and in postgraduate medical education. Marshall’s medical school has been working for the last few years to expand its instructional opportunities in orthopedics to take advantage of the groundbreaking advances in musculoskeletal and neuromuscular medicine.
 

·    According to figures from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, only Michigan ranks lower than West Virginia in the number of orthopedic surgeons for its population: West Virginia has 4.5 orthopedic surgeons for each 100,000 people, far below the national average of 6.2.
 

·    Demand for orthopedic services in West Virginia already is high because the state has a high proportion of high-risk occupations such as coal mining, timbering and rail transportation. The state also has the nation’s second-oldest population, and the need for surgeons to treat age‑related fractures and joint problems will continue to grow.
 

·    West Virginia has a few larger communities that have been recognized as centers of orthopedic services. The demand is expected to increase as more communities in the state seek to make these services available locally. The medical school anticipates that this new training program will allow us to train physicians who can help expand state-of-the-art orthopedics to areas that are now underserved.

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The new program also will help the medical school provide its students with cutting-edge orthopedic training and services, helping us to continue to meet stringent credentialing and academic demands.

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TheThe growing Department of Orthopaedic Surgery will be housed in a new and expanded office area on the ground floor of the Marshall University Medical Center next to Cabell Huntington Hospital. Also located there will be the new Department of Neuroscience, which will play a complementary role by helping patients by performing neurosurgery and providing neurological treatment. Each of these specialties is critically important in treating trauma‑related injuries.