Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program at The Mount Sinai Hospital

The outstanding surgical training, regimented educational program, and ample research support make the Mount Sinai Orthopaedic Surgery program one of the top residencies in the country. Graduates of the program are routinely placed at the most competitive subspecialty fellowship positions in the country.

The Mount Sinai Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program is comprised of 7 residents per year in a 5 year program. The program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and designed to provide trainees with the knowledge and skills necessary to become outstanding orthopaedic surgeons.

With a patient mix of the city’s most affluent and most needy, our residency program offers many opportunities to gain medical and scientific expertise, as well as to hone your entrepreneurism, critical thinking, and social consciousness. In addition, our Orthopaedic surgery residents at Mount Sinai are intimately involved with all facets of orthopaedic care including outpatient medicine, inpatient care, and surgery.

We also believe that research is critical to orthopaedics, both basic and clinical. Our residents learn to appraise the scientific literature and incorporate the findings into their daily practice, as well as actively participate in furthering our understanding of the field.

Each year of the residency consists of three- or four-month rotations that fulfill the residency requirements of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery.

  • PGY-1: Residents complete rotations in the Department of Surgery gaining experiences in multi-system trauma, plastic surgery and burn care, intensive care, and vascular surgery. You also receive structured education in emergency medicine, anesthesiology, musculoskeletal imaging, and three months of orthopedics.
  • PGY-2: Residents complete rotations in pediatric orthopedics, orthopedic oncology, spine, and trauma.
  • PGY-3: Residents complete rotations in adult reconstruction, sports injuries, foot and ankle, and upper extremities.
  • PGY-4: Residents complete rotations in spinal cord injury, sports injury, upper extremity, and trauma.
  • PGY-5: residents complete rotations in pediatric orthopedics, orthopedic oncology, adult reconstruction, sports injury, spinal cord injury, and trauma.

In addition, our residents engage in daily, one-hour didactic sessions with faculty, as well as weekly grand rounds with the entire department.

We will resume the Visiting Student Program starting in July 2021. Interested Students should visit ISSMS Elective Website for information on how to apply.

We accept seven residents each year. We fill all residency positions through the National Residency Match Program. To apply, you use the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS).

In addition, please submit the following:

  • Medical School Performance Evaluation (Dean’s Letter)
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Three narrative letters of recommendation completed by physicians, with at least one letter from an orthopaedic surgeon.  Each letter must be accompanied with an Universal Supplemental Evaluation Form or AOA’s Standard letter of recommendation (SLOR.)  
  • Official medical school transcript
  • Scores from Part I and Part II (if taken) from the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE)
  • Personal statement

All documents must be uploaded to the ERAS portal. Documents emailed or mailed will not be accepted.

We invite 100 applicants for interviews and make our selection from among these students.

Our deadline for completed applications is November 1. Residency interview dates for invited applicants are usually during the first 2 weeks of January on a Friday or Saturday.

Please note that we admit international medical graduates. If you are an international medical graduate, please contact your local ECFMG office for more information on ERAS.

We accept J1 and H1B visas. As with U.S. applicants, we have no strict cutoff scores on the USMLE nor do we have an age cutoff.

The Orthopaedic Residency Program offers a competitive salary.

Learn more about salary and benefits

Our current residents are:

PGY-5

Christopher Ball, MD
Medical School: Thomas Jefferson University/Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Joseph Barbera, MD
Medical School: Florida International University

Kevin Chen, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College

Steven Girdler, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein School of Medicine

Stephen Selverian, MD
Medical School: Thomas Jefferson University/Sidney Kimmel Medical College

Kevin Wang, MD
Medical School: Northwestern University

Ryan Xiao, MD
Medical School: Harvard Medical School

PGY-4

Ed Awah, MD
Medical School: University of Illinois

Dustin Buller, MD
Medical School: University of Texas Southwestern

Frank Cautela, MD
Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine

John Cordero, MD
Medical School: Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine

Aakash Keswani, MD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Jonathan Markowitz, MD
Medical School: Rush Medical College

Kyle Rako, MD
Medical School: Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

PGY-3

Christon Darden, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College

David Kantrowitz, MD
Medical School: Columbia University

Alexander Lieber, MD
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine

Noor Maza, MD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Will Ranson, MD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Kathryn Whitelaw, MD
Medical School: Georgetown University School of Medicine

Christine Williams, MD
Medical School: Drexel University College of Medicine

PGY-2

Dennis Bienstock, MD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Harrison Ferlauto, MD 
Medical School: Duke University School of Medicine

Eric Haunschild, MD
Medical School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Jamie Kator, MD
Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine

Hannah Rhee, MD
Medical School: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Laura Thurber, MD
Medical School: University of Massachusetts Medical School

Steven Yacovelli, MD
Medical School: Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University

PGY-1

Thomas Boucher, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein School of Medicine

Aonnicha Burapachaisri, MD
Medical School: Boston University School of Medicine

Brian Cho, MD
Medical School: Icahn School of Medicine

Thomas Evashwick-Rogler, MD
Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Hulaimatu Jalloh, MD
Medical School: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Taylor Mustapich, MD
Medical School: Albert Einstein School of Medicine

Michael Shatkin, MD
Medical School: New York Medical College