Overview & Description:

University of California, Davis/Reno Orthopedic Clinic Foot and Ankle Fellowship

This fellowship is highly unique as it provides the orthopedic foot & ankle fellow training in both an academic and a busy private practice setting. The Foot & Ankle fellow will spend six months each at UC Davis Department of Orthopaedic Surgery (Sacramento, CA) and the Reno Orthopedic Clinic (Reno, NV). This fellowship program will provide a comprehensive curriculum with in-depth exposure to the clinical management of orthopedic foot & ankle patients. There are ample teaching and research opportunities within this model. In addition, the fellow will be encouraged to participate in a nationally recognized practice management curriculum. There is no clinical overlap of the fellows. The fellow will have an independent clinic and surgical experience with guidance.

The primary goal of the UCD/ROC foot and ankle fellowship is to provide fellows a broad and rich clinical and surgical experience. A complete exposure to the AOFAS recommended curriculum will be achieved by the completion of the fellowship through a combination of hands-on/clinical exposure, didactic lectures and meetings, and self-study. Fellows participate in approximately 700 procedures and over 4000 clinical patients, providing the fellow experience with 100% of the problems and procedures on the recommended curriculum list.  This exposure is well rounded with nearly equal distribution between forefoot/midfoot/hindfoot, trauma, reconstruction, and sports. In addition, the fellow will train under four fellowship trained orthopedic surgeons with a different approach to the clinical and surgical management of these patients. There is also scheduled cadaveric experience early in the fellowship, which serves to expose and improve the fellow’s technique and understanding in basic surgical skills, arthroscopy, and total ankle arthroplasty. To augment this clinical and surgical exposure, the fellows will receive monthly didactic lectures that cover the curriculum as well as travel to the AOFAS Annual Meeting. Finally, the fellow will be provided with Mann’s Surgery of the Foot and Ankle, Sarrafian’s Anatomy of the Foot and Ankle, and access to Foot and Ankle International for independent study.

University of California, Davis:

Time spent at the University of California, Davis (UCD) campus will be a traditional university, tertiary referral experience primarily under the direction of Dr. Eric Giza. Other foot and ankle faculty include Dr. Chris Kreulen, M.D. The fellow’s patient management experience at UCD will include managing complex and common foot and ankle problems. Based on the fellow’s interest, there is an opportunity to spend time at Shriners Hospital for Children.

At UCD, the fellow will gain experience in managing residents and medical students on the busy foot and ankle service. This will hone teaching, delegating, and patient care organizational skills. The fellow will participate in monthly journal clubs and presentations to the residents. Other conferences will include a radiology conference with the University’s musculoskeletal radiologists focusing on imaging of musculoskeletal conditions of the foot and ankle. Every two to three months, there will be a “difficult foot clinic” with complex patients presented to the UC Davis staff and the ROC teaching staff, alternating between locations. In addition, the fellow may attend department and university meetings to gain insight into the mechanics of academic department decision-making and the issues facing university hospitals.

Finally, UCD provides state-of-the-art research facilities, with support from professors, graduate students, and staff assistants for basic scientific and clinical research. The department maintains an active biomechanics lab and an anatomy lab with cadavers available for research and educational dissection. For more information visit

Reno Orthopedic Clinic:

The goal of the Reno Orthopedic Clinic Foot and Ankle Fellowship (ROCFAF) is to provide an environment that will foster a comprehensive understanding of conservative and surgical treatments for foot and ankle conditions, but also becoming well versed in the “behind the scenes” aspects of practicing medicine in an ever changing medical climate.

The busy clinical setting of the ROC will expose the fellow to many different foot and ankle pathologies, and the associated conservative and surgical treatment options. With 23 surgeons, 2 physiatrists, and a family practice physician certified in sports medicine plus 3 fellows, the ROC offers excellent exposure to foot and ankle practice within a large, independent, private practice clinic. Although the fellow’s clinical time will be spent primarily with Dr. Lundeen, the expertise of all the ROC physicians is always available, including Dr. Scott Whitlow, a fellowship trained orthopedic foot & ankle specialist. Through the ROCFAF, the fellow will encounter routine and complex problems of the foot and ankle associated with trauma, congenital malformations, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, forefoot deformities, and diabetes. Dr. Lundeen performs approximately 700 surgeries per year, which will provide more than ample clinical and surgical experience. The fellow will also gain unique and valuable exposure to amputee specialists and collaboration with the ROC’s certified pedorthist, nail care specialists, and wound care specialists who works closely with our clinicians.

The ROCFAF is also dedicated to the fellow developing the skills to become successful in the important non-clinical aspects of practicing medicine. The fellow will spend time with the Reno Orthopedic Clinic (ROC) business staff learning strategies related to ancillary income, hospital co-operations, malpractice, staffing, and coding/billing/collecting. There will also be time spent learning hospital alignment strategies with hospital CEOs. The ROC is a member of the prestigious Western Orthopaedic Forum, an invitation only practice management group, and our business staff have presented our models at national meetings. In addition, the fellow can participate in the Nevada Orthopaedic Society through board meetings and email to gain exposure to the process and impact state and local legislation has on the orthopedic surgeons’ ability to care for patients. There will also be some cross over with national actions by AAOS.

The fellow’s time at the ROCFAF will be focused on education and skills development so as to become a confident and independent practitioner of foot and ankle conditions. Educational meetings will include a monthly journal club with foot and ankle providers, industry representatives, and other interested parties. Education and skills development will also take place during clinic with Dr. Lundeen and during the fellow’s independent clinic, which will include patient management and surgery planning and booking.