
We are excited to announce another milestone in the evolution of medical education provided by Connecticut Orthopedics: the successful completion of its first annual orthopaedic training component of the new Rural Family Medicine Residency Program (RFMRP) of the Quinnipiac University-Netter School of Medicine. Launched in July 2024, the RFMRP represents Netter’s first family medicine residency program, with its mission in place to train medical school graduates to become family physicians with the skills necessary to thrive in rural healthcare settings. These residents spent the months of July through October learning orthopaedics and sports medicine in our offices.
Bridging Gaps in Orthopaedic Care
Rural areas often face specific healthcare challenges when it comes to providing easily available access to specialty care, and this is certainly true in the field of orthopaedics. With this in mind, and recognizing the need for their future family physicians to be comfortable with the delivery of first-line orthopaedic care for their patients, Dr. Traci Marquis, Program Director, and Dr. Stephanie Morton, Associate Program Director – reached out to Dr. Kenneth Kramer, our Director of Medical Education at Connecticut Orthopaedics who has been overseeing a comprehensive program of medical student orthopaedic education provided by our CO physicians to the Netter school in recent years. Working with Drs. Marquis and Morton, Dr. Kramer developed and supervised an orthopaedic educational program for the Netter residents, drawing upon the breadth of our capable physicians to provide them with a comprehensive exposure to outpatient orthopaedics.
Running from July through October, the curriculum saw each of the four family medicine residents spend a full immersive month at Connecticut Orthopaedics. Their schedule included daily rotations in our offices where they gained hands-on exposure to patient care in our various subspecialties, in addition to receiving didactic lectures given by our physicians. Says Dr. Kramer, “Sixteen of our partners graciously gave of their time, talent and knowledge in educating the Netter residents in the various fields of orthopaedics that will serve them well in their futures. It was enthusiastically received by both the residents and their dedicated faculty, and we look forward to our continued participation as an important component of the Netter RFMRP.”
A Collaborative Educational and Societal Effort
“This inaugural clinical partnership between CO and the QU RFMRP is more than just a curriculum”, continues Dr. Kramer, “it’s a commitment by CO to the educational needs of physicians-in-training and the communities which they will serve, as well as to the needs of such a fine medical institution as the QU-Netter School of Medicine and its students, residents, and forward-thinking faculty.” Says Dr. Marquis, “The QU Rural Family Medicine Program leadership and residents are incredibly grateful for this partnership with Connecticut Orthopaedics. A strong set of orthopaedic knowledge and skills will play a fundamental role in the residents’ future practice as community primary care doctors, and will help us fulfill our mission of increasing access to care for all, especially in rural areas.”