ACGME Accredits Miller School Orthopaedic Fellowship in Adult Reconstruction

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has accredited the University of Miami/Jackson Health System’s Adult Reconstruction Fellowship in the Department of Orthopaedics, a distinction held by only 22% of U.S. orthopaedic fellowships.

“Orthopaedics is one of the most competitive medical specialties today, and in the last few years, joint replacement has become one of the most competitive subspecialties,” said Michele R. D’Apuzzo, M.D., program director of the Adult Reconstruction Fellowship and associate professor of clinical orthopaedics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “U.S. training programs include accredited and non-accredited options. Becoming accredited affords protection for fellows in terms of how many hours they work, time off and, most importantly, the quality of their education. It really puts fellows first, and the ACGME is the gold standard accreditation for graduate medical education.”

The Department of Orthopaedics launched the joint reconstruction fellowship in 2020 and currently has its third fellow in the program. Today, the Miller School program is the only ACGME-accredited orthopaedic adult reconstruction fellowship in Florida.

“We are dedicated to developing the very best orthopaedic surgeons,” said Yvonne Diaz, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education and associate professor of clinical medicine at the Miller School and designated institutional official for the University of Miami/Jackson programs. “ACGME accreditation is a formal demonstration of our commitment to ensuring our fellows are well prepared and ready for future practice.”

ACGME accreditation has helped the Miller School fellowship move to the forefront in grant funding. Recently, it received $20,000 in funding from the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS). The AAHKS’s Fellowship Education Improvement and Innovation Grant program helps fellowships improve the content and quality of their curriculums. The grant aims to help standardize fellowship curricula to go beyond technical training to cover critical issues impacting patient outcomes and quality of care, according to AAHKS.

“The accreditation highlights our commitment to quality, and funding organizations recognize that,” Dr. D’Apuzzo said. “We recently applied for another grant to help support salary and benefits for our fellows, which we hope to hear about soon.”

Tags: Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Adult Reconstruction Fellowship, American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, Department of Medical Education, Department of Orthopaedics, Dr. Michele D'Apuzzo, Miller School of Medicine, UM/Jackson