Welcome to the University of Washington Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Residency Program

Thank you for your interest in our residency program. The University of Washington Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine is one of the leading academic orthopaedic departments in the United States. It ranks among the top departments in terms of current NIH funding, is the only orthopaedic department to have a VA Rehabilitation Research & Development Center of Excellence, and is the only department to have two medical centers (HMC and UWMC) consistently in the U.S. News and World Report’s Honor Roll.

Seven endowed research chairs and a research professorship nurture the scholarly activity of the Department. On this foundation, the Department offers the only academic residency program for our five-state area, which is one-quarter of the landmass of the country. The UW Orthopaedic Residency has graduated three current departmental chairs, international leaders in sports medicine, orthopaedic traumatology, foot and ankle surgery, shoulder and elbow surgery, joint reconstruction, pediatric orthopaedics, spine surgery and orthopaedic research.

This exciting clinical and scholarly environment enables us to attract and retain an outstanding academic faculty consisting of thirty-three full-time academic orthopaedic surgeons and ten full-time PhD investigators along with ten full-time acting instructors. We plan to add five more full-time clinicians over the next five years.

Perhaps the most special element of the program is the profound partnership that exists between the residents and the faculty. Decisions regarding clinical rotations, research participation, didactics, lectureships and recruitments are made in collaboration. This dynamic approach to the evolution of the residency as the program grows will assure that we continue to train the orthopaedic leaders of the future.

Best wishes,

Frederick Matsen, M.D.
Chairman, University of Washington Residency Program