At a recent professional conference in Phoenix, Ariz., a group of graduates from the Orthopaedic Trauma fellowship at The University of New Mexico met for dinner to celebrate the program’s 20th anniversary.
The gathering included the program’s founder, Thomas DeCoster, MD, who earlier this year retired as a professor in the Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation in the UNM School of Medicine.
Tom DeCoster makes you challenge your thinking, even when you feel prepared and confident. I felt like I was finished with my training but still had plenty to learn from him, due to his often intimidating and commanding presence.
- David Chafey, MD, Professor, Dept. of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, UNM School of Medicine
“He’s been a great resource for the fellows because he's encouraged a lot of research projects throughout the years,” said David Chafey, MD, a professor of Orthopaedics who has served as the trauma fellowship’s director since 2018.
The annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association was a chance for participants to learn about the latest developments in the field, he said.
Orthopaedic trauma is a sub-specialty that deals with higher-energy limb-threatening conditions, such as pelvic fractures, crushing injuries and gunshot injuries.
“These are things that can threaten not only your limb, but your life,” Chafey said.
The standard orthopaedics residency is five years. Residents rotate through a variety of different types of surgery, and typically spend six to eight months handling trauma cases.
The one-year trauma fellowship builds on that with an intensified caseload, in which fellows might operate on more than 100 pelvic fractures in a year.
“We’ve been pretty excited with the last 10 years of fellows that come through our program,” Chafey said. “They’re just outstanding, young surgeons who are ready to be out in practice, but they're taking a year of their life to hone their skills and get more exposure so they can get better at particular things.”
UNM Hospital, New Mexico’s only Level I trauma center, provides ample opportunities for advanced training, Chafey said.
“We’ve had one fellow graduate with 140 operative pelvic fracture surgery cases in a year,” he said.
DeCoster, who joined the UNM faculty in 1986, initiated the trauma fellowship in 2004, at a time when it was increasingly seen as a distinct sub-specialty requiring additional training, Chafey said. UNM’s fellowship, one of 66 nationwide, enrolls one fellow each summer.
In his mentorship role, DeCoster could be an exacting teacher, said Chafey, who joined UNM in 2012 after completing his fellowship in Arizona.
“Tom makes you challenge your thinking, even when you feel prepared and confident,” Chafey said. “I felt like I was finished with my training but still had plenty to learn from him, due to his often intimidating and commanding presence.”
DeCoster’s practice of pushing his mentees to examine their assumptions also accounts for the success program graduates have in passing their oral examinations, Chafey said.
“To this day, the residents are like, ‘Oh boy, Dr. DeCoster’s on the conference call,” he said. “I better come up with a comprehensive answer or he is going to interrogate me until he reaches the limits of my knowledge."
UNM currently has six surgeons specializing in orthopaedic trauma.
“We’re treating the most complex injuries in the state, but we also help with a variety of common fractures to help patients regain their function,” Chafey said.
