UIC Orthopedic Residency Overview
Rotations
The PGY-1 orthopedic residency year is divided into 13, four week blocks. Six months are spent on the orthopedic services at UIC and Lutheran, and one month is spent working with our PM&R doctors while also spending time mastering splint and cast applications in our cast room at University of Illinois Hospital. The remaining six are spent on the off-service rotations of Anesthesia, General Surgery Trauma, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Radiology, Plastic Surgery. One month is designated a vacation month.
The PGY-2 through PGY-5 years are divided in to seven, seven to eight week blocks spent entirely on orthopedic services between our five hospital sites. Approximately 30% of rotations are spent on a Trauma service, 15% on Adult Reconstruction, and the remainder split evenly between other subspecialties. An example schedule is on the right.
University of Illinois Hospital
PGY-2/3 Q4-6 Home Call
PGY-4/5 Q3-4 Backup Call
Advocate Lutheran Hospital
PGY-2 Q4-5 In House
PGY-3 Q5-6 In House
PGY-4 Q9-10 In House
Northshore Skokie Hospital
PGY-2 Q5-6 Home Call (M-Th only)
PGY-3/4 Q8-12 Home Call (M-Th only)
Advocate Christ Hospital
PGY-3 Q4-6 In House
PGY-4 Q6 In House
PGY-5 Q14 In House
Shriners Hospital for Children
PGY-2 Q4 Home Call
PGY-4 Q6 Home Call
Call Schedule
The UIC Orthopedic Residency call schedule is variable based on which hospital rotation. At UIH, Northshore, and Shriners Hospital we take home call. Whereas Christ and Lutheran is in-house with a post call day. At Northshore, we only are on call Monday through Thursday with weekends off. Additionally, there is a PA in house 24 hours a day acting as a first screen to all consults, and we go in for operative cases.
Athletic/Event Coverage
Residents have ample opportunity to cover various professional, college, and high school athletic events as well as various other events such as performances and concerts. Our residents frequently have the opportunity to provide medical coverage for music performances. Our orthopedic residents provide coverage for the UIC Division I Athletes and local high schools. Residents are compensated for covering local high school sports with $150 being credited to their educational fund.
Retirement:
Residents do not pay social security taxes; instead, eight percent (8%) of your gross earnings is deducted from your paycheck and placed in State Universities Retirement System (SURS) which is invested in stock accounts. At the end of 5 years, you can receive as much as the lump sum of contributions, interest, and 1:1 matching depending on the SURS plan you enroll in. This can amount to more than $50,000 returned at the end of residency.
Additional retirement funds may be established through the University if desired.
Insurance:
Health, Dental, Vision, Life, Travel, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Long Term Disability, and Flexible Spending Accounts are all available through a combination of the State and University.
Additional information on benefits may be found at: https://www.hr.uillinois.edu/benefits
Parking:
Parking at UIC may be purchased on a monthly basis at the discounted employee rate of $75 pre-tax. Parking at non-UIC facilities is provided free of charge to rotating residents. UIC Rates and Fees may be found here.
Educational:
Residents are awarded $3000 each year for PGY II–V ($1000 PGY I) to buy books, loupes, lead, attend courses, etc. Additionally, free at-home access to all on-line library services, including UpToDate, MD Consult, Harrison’s On-Line, Medline, PubMed and Ovid Full-Text Journals.
All residents are also given access to AAOS Resident Study page which has a question bank of over 4,000 questions from prior year OITE and OKU. A yearly subscription to OrthoBullets study plan and question bank is also provided to all residents.
Meal Stipend:
All residents are awarded a $100 monthly meal stipend directly to their monthly paycheck. Additionally residents get meal cards for their in house call nights at Advocate Lutheran General and Advocate Christ Hospitals. Residents eat for free when on call the Shriner's hospital.
Conference:
Residents are awarded up to $1500 for travel and lodging to present research accepted at national conferences.
Benefits
2023-2024 Salary
Year Yearly
PGY I $66,072
PGY II $68,395
PGY III $70,731
PGY IV $73,314
PGY V $76,375
Recreation
Residents may join the UIC Sports and Fitness Center adjacent to the University of Illinois Hospital on UIC’s west campus or the UIC Student Recreation Facility on UIC’s east campus at a discounted rate. The Sports and Fitness Center features a large swimming pool and sauna, an indoor running track, several basketball and racquetball courts, and 2 exercise rooms. The Student Recreation Facility features a large pool, a sauna, an indoor running track, basketball, racquetball and squash courts, several exercise rooms, a climbing wall, spin suites, and an outdoor adventures office.
Duty Hours
The UIC Department of Orthopaedics strictly adheres to the ACGME work hour rules.