Swiss Orthopedic Residence Program

Minimum Clinical Experience (6 years):

- 1 year in General or Children Surgery

- 1 year optional (Research, General Surgery, Anesthesia, Hand Surgery, Heart & thorax,
Intensive care, Maxillofaxial, Children, Neurosurgery, ENT, Plastic Surgery, Urology or
Orthopedics)
- 4-5 years Orthopedics & Traumatology
o At least in 2 hospitals
o At least 1 year in a big hospital (> 1200 operations/year)
o At least 2 continuous years at the same hospital

Minimum Operative experience (Operations are to be assisted by at least 1 Specialist (Oberarzt):

- Spine:
- Shoulder & Upper Arm:
- Lower Arm & Hand:
- Pelvis, Hip & Femur:
- Knie & Tibia:
- Foot:
10 operations
25 operations
20 operations
40 operations (min. 5 prox. Femur, 20 total Hip prosthesis)
50 operations (min. 20 Meniscus open & arthroscopic)
35 operations (min. 10 Malleolar fractures, 10 Hallux valgus)

Minimum extra curriculum activities:

- Author or Co-Author in a reviewed publication

- Presentation in a local or international conference
- Radiology protection course
- Orthopedic technician course
- Spending at least 5 working days in an accredited orthopedic technician shop
- Swiss insurance course
- Give 3 expert opinions e.g. for insurance company, court,..etc.
- Collecting 200 CME points

Exams

- General Surgery: 120 MCQ in 4 hours (after 1-2 years of residence)

- Facharzt-Part 1: 120 MCQ in 4 hours (after 4-5 years of residence)
- Facharzt-Part 2: Through 2 independent examiners (after completing the residence & operations)
o Oral: 4 clinical cases each 15 minutes
o 2 surgical approaches each 30 minutes (in operation room or on cadaver)

Mohy Taha, Swiss Orthopedic Residence, 21.03.2011

General points about medical system in Switzerland:

- After finishing the residence and passing the exams, one is going to change from a resident
(Assistenzarzt) to be a specialist (Oberarzt) as soon as he/she finds the position. After some years
one can be consultant (Leitender Arzt) or head of a department (Chefarzt) if he finds the position.
All of the mentioned positions are jobs available in the market, so everybody has to apply to the
different hospitals to find the right job at the right time. It’s a free competitive market & the head
of the department decides who is going to take the job.
- The academic career is independent from the clinical career:
o After finishing the medical school nobody, one is not automatically a doctor. To get the
doctor title (Dr. med.), one has to write a doctoral thesis
o To be a lecturer (PD), one has to have lots of publications, write a dissertation, have a
high impact factor, be a mentor for doctor students, write part of a book and find a
position at a university (must not be working in the university hospital)
o To be a professor (Prof), one has to continue the functions of the lecturer and find a
position as a professor at the university (must not be working in the university hospital)

Mohy Taha, Swiss Orthopedic Residence, 21.03.2011