Program History

Rutgers Medical School was established in 1966 as a two year medical institution. In 1970 Rutgers Medical School was merged with New Jersey Medical School, located in Newark, to form the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (CMDNJ). In 1972 UMDNJ-Rutgers Medical School became a full four year program graduating its first four year graduates in 1974. Subsequently, the collective name was again changed to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Because of the immense interest the late Robert Wood Johnson III took in medical care and education, he was honored with the renaming of both the medical school and hospital in his honor. The UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is now one of the eight schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

The Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a five year residency program accredited by the ACGME since inception in 1976. The program was founded by the interest of Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery Emeritus Joseph Leddy, MD (pictured left) & Joseph Zawadsky MD to supply first class tuition to the following generation of orthopaedic surgeons. Provisional approval in 1976 was obtained for a total of twelve residents, with three residents at each level in a four year program. This program was offered by the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School. The program was centered at Raritan Valley Hospital in Green Brook, New Jersey and affiliated with St. Peter's Medical Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Raritan Valley Hospital was a 130 bed acute care facility located seven miles from the Rutgers Medical School campus. In 1980, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, formerly know as Middlesex General Hospital, became the primary teaching hospital for the medical school. The completion of the Medical Education Building in 1982, adjacent to RWJUH provided the physical facility for the coalescence of the various clinical services of the medical school. Since 1980, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and St. Peter's University Hospital have been the primary locations for resident training. In 2005, however, the residency program expanded and the Jersey Shore University Medical Center became the third hospital affiliated with the residency program. As a level II trauma center, it serves as an excellent additional training center for orthopaedic trauma as well as upper extremity surgical procedures. The residency programs' affiliations also stretch to Manhattan, as each year the PGY4 residents spend two months on the orthopaedic oncology service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Each institution makes a unique contribution to the resident's educational experience.

In July of 2003 the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, initially under the Department of Surgery, became a separate surgical department. A total of forty-seven full-time and volunteer clinical faculty are actively engaged in the education of the residents. Throughout their clinical training, residents develop an excellent rapport with the attending physicians throughout this training program. In 2006, the program was expanded to 4 residents per year by the ACGME.