Clinical Training and Research

Orthopedics and Scoliosis Research Staff

Formal Sessions, Classes and Seminars

• Pre-operative planning conference – one hour (Monday)
• Indications conference (combined with radiology and pathology) – one hour (Monday following bone board)
• Post-operative and trauma “bone board” conference – one hour (Friday)
• Pediatric orthopedic journal club held every other week – one hour (Friday)
• Educational sessions (Chalk Talk) on a wide range of pediatric orthopedic topics held every other week – one hour (Friday)
• Specialty research conferences held monthly (hip, sports, scoliosis, trauma) – one hour
• Specialty educational conferences held monthly (scoliosis, hip, neuromuscular, sports) – one hour
• Grand Rounds and basic science conferences, sponsored by UC San Diego School of Medicine, held every other week– one hour (Wednesday)

Daily Activities

These may include:

• Morning surgical floor rounds
• Surgery
• Administrative time (to work on research activities)
• Pediatric orthopedic clinics (attending staff clinics)
• Rady Children’s specialty and multidisciplinary clinics, including scoliosis, hip, muscle disease, spasticity, spinal defects, and adult cerebral palsy
• Fellow trauma clinic (an opportunity to see your own patients usually in follow-up to trauma call, an independent clinic with adjacent attending staff to assist with care questions)

Research Involvement

A wide variety of clinical and basic research projects can be pursued, using our ample clinical volume and broad-based laboratory facilities of our center. In addition to a clinical research project of his or her own, the fellow may be involved in current areas of research within the Orthopedic Department that include:

1. Hip
   1. Ultrasound analysis of the infant hip
   2. Three-dimensional analysis of hip disorders in children
   3. Treatment of hip dysplasia using 3-D CT data
   4. New concepts of hip containment in Legg-Perthes disease
   5. Hip impingement disorders
   6. Hip preservation surgery
2. Spine
   1. Correlation of pulmonary function with scoliosis in paralytic disorders
   2. Growth and development in patients with idiopathic scoliosis
   3. Three-dimensional analysis of spine geometry
   4. Thoracoscopic approach to scoliosis surgery
   5. Development of thoracoscopic spinal instrumentation
   6. Research into non-fusion surgical correction techniques for scoliosis treatment
3. Sports Medicine
   1. Osteochondritis dissecans and cartilage preservation
   2. Shoulder instability and overhead athlete disorders
   3. Athletic avulsion fractures and associated pathology
   4. Meniscus pathology in children and adolescents
   5. Ankle arthroscopy
   6. Patella instability
4. Foot/Ankle Disorders
   1. Corrective surgery for flat foot
   2. Corrective surgery for cavus foot deformity
   3. Management of tarsal coalitions
   4. Complex correction of ankle and foot deformities
   5. Motion analysis – cerebral palsy
5. Cerebral Palsy
   1. Gait abnormalities and extremity-function disorders
   2. Hip disorders in cerebral palsy
   3. Scoliosis and spinal deformity in cerebral palsy
   4. Complex neuromuscular conditions involving both cerebral palsy and related conditions
   5. Motion analysis research
6. Trauma
   1. Outcomes of  fracture treatment
   2. Radiographic assessment of pediatric fractures
   3. Management of skeletally immature elbow fractures
   4. Outcomes of perigenicular fractures
   5. Casting techniques and trainee education

For more information, visit the Research and Clinical Trials page.

Lena Sefton Clark Fellow

Each year, our division decides which of our clinical fellows should be named the Lena Sefton Clark fellow in Children’s Orthopedics. This award is given to a pediatric orthopedic fellow who exemplifies the outstanding qualities of patient care, teaching and research, which are central to our orthopedic mission.