Residencies and Fellowships: The Basics
Information provided by Cheri Hodges, PT, DPT, MAppSc, OCS, FAAOMPT
In brief, an orthopedic residency is a post-professional education program in the area of clinical specialization of orthopedic physical therapy. The educational experience includes didactic and clinical education specific to orthopedics. Residencies also include clinical mentoring in direct patient care. Fellowships are programs in subspecialty areas of clinical specialization, for example manual therapy fellowship training will allow a clinician to specialize further in the area of orthopedics. Manual therapy fellowship training after orthopedic residency training is a career path for your professional development.
As a graduate of an entry-level doctorate program in Physical Therapy and a licensed physical therapist, you should be well prepared for practicing physical therapy. Once you decide to practice in an area of specialty practice, in this case, orthopedics, you will want to focus and advance your clinical knowledge and skills in this area of specialty practice.
Orthopedic residency training helps accelerate your learning in the practice dimensions of examination, evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, interventions and outcomes in an orthopedic setting. A key component to residencies is mentoring. Mentoring in clinical practice helps you develop your clinical decision making with the guidance from experienced clinicians with the patients you are currently treating. Residency training is a great jump-start to your career as a physical therapist. You will be more confident and effective in your patient care management from the experience.
If you choose to continue your career path with subspecialty training, a fellowship may be your next step. A fellowship program in orthopedic manual therapy will further advance your knowledge and skills with a heavy emphasis on manual therapy.
There are requirements for all residency and fellowship programs that are accredited by the APTA however every program is unique. The APTA website outlines these requirements and each program outlines their unique program on their websites (see resources and links below). When considering different programs, you want to investigate the structure of the program, costs, flexibility for work experience, time commitment, and perhaps most importantly, the faculty and their experience and philosophy in teaching.
Orthopedic Section Residency and Fellowship Education Committee Webpage:
The purpose of the RFE Committee is to develop and disseminate educational materials as well as sponsor educational programs to support orthopaedic clinical residency programs. This page includes links to existing residency and fellowship programs (also listed below).
Directory of Residency and Fellowship Programs:
This link will take you to the APTA listing of all accredited residency and fellowship programs in the country.
Orthopedic Residency Program Descriptions:
This link will take you to a pdf document, provided by the Orthopedic Section of the APTA, that compares various orthopedic residencies including costs, locations and type of residency program.
Fellowship Program Descriptions:
This link will take you to a pdf document, provided by the Orthopedic Section of the APTA, that compares various fellowship programs including costs, locations and type of fellowship.
Additional Resources for Students
Orthopedic Section of the APTA:
Published ICF Guidelines:
The ICF guidelines are evidence-based practice guidelines for the treatment of common musculoskeletal conditions. They provide an excellent resource to help guide your clinical reasoning and summarizes the most current research and standard of care for various conditions. The guidelines have all been published by JOSPT. New guidelines are continually under review so watch for updates.
