Orthopaedics
The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Musculoskeletal Medicine is unique in New Zealand in that both the Academic and Service Departments combine the surgical and medical components of musculoskeletal diseases and injuries into one department.
This amalgamation is reflected in the fulltime academic staff in that the Professor and Head of Department is an Orthopaedic Surgeon, the three clinical senior lecturers, a primary care musculoskeletal specialist, an orthopaedic surgeon, and a clinical psychologist specialising in chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Thus it is possible to organise and deliver fully comprehensive teaching of musculoskeletal disorders to Undergraduate and Postgraduate students from the one Department.
Undergraduate Teaching Programme
The musculoskeletal attachment comprises
- Orthopaedic Surgery
- Musculoskeletal Medicine
- Rheumatology, Radiology
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Pain Management
- Spinal Injuries
with the teaching being carried out by a small core of full time academic staff assisted by a large number of clinical senior lecturers in the appropriate specialities.
Since 2011 the undegraduate teaching programme has been integrated with Neurology-Neurosurgery, and is now an 8 week attachment. This clinically-orientated, problem solving, and largely student-driven programme allows plenty of elective time for students to achieve their goals.
The major strengths are the abundance and variety of clinical material available to students, an emphasis on largely informal tutoring, teaching by subspecialists and an introduction to the dynamics of working in a multidisciplinary team.
In the trainee intern year the fifth year experiences are consolidated by attachment to specific clinical teams which allows a much more 'hands on' approach and added responsibility.