P. Christopher Cook, MD, and the Secret to Training Orthopaedic Surgical Residents

An orthopaedic rotation during medical school changed the life of P. Christopher Cook, MD, the Dr. C. McCollister Evarts Professor in Orthopaedics.

“That rotation set my career path,” says Cook, who is also chief of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics and head of resident training for orthopaedic surgery.

“Combining my interest in both pediatrics and orthopaedic surgery has allowed me to help children in a hands-on way, both of which were, and remain, important to me.”

But he also chose to help surgical residents, because he knows the difference that excellent training can make.

One thing that has made the resident program he oversees so coveted and effective is an emphasis on innovation— specialty labs and equipment, for example, made possible by funding from generous donors such as William P. Thorpe, MD (Res ’81), and his wife, Judy. In the Kenneth DeHaven Skills (KEDS) Laboratory at UR Medicine’s Sawgrass Surgical Center, the Thorpes’ funding has allowed residents to learn techniques such as drilling a pin into bone and practicing arthroscopy using simulation software. Arthroscopy is the minimally invasive surgical procedure that DeHaven himself, the first chief of sports medicine in the Orthopaedics Department, helped pioneer. It is now practiced worldwide for joint repair and ACL reconstruction.

Cook explains that training like this helps students “gain the essential surgical skills they need before entering the operating room to work on real patients. It’s a

Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center Nears Completion

The new UR Medicine Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center at Marketplace Mall in Rochester, slated to fully open in late 2023, will offer easy access, the latest and best approaches to care, and a full range of musculoskeletal services for patients of all ages and abilities. This includes all the expertise, facilities, and equipment needed to diagnose and treat bone, muscle, spine, and joint conditions. It also includes an array of medical imaging, physical therapy, sports medicine, athletic training, injury prevention, and nutrition and mind-body wellness services. Everything will be available under one roof, creating an orthopaedics campus unlike any other in the Northeast. Philanthropy like the Thorpes’ has provided vital support for the center and the education and training that will happen there.

distinguishing aspect of what the orthopaedics department offers, and it draws the most qualified residents.”

In fact, every year, up to 800 medical students apply for the eight available resident spots. Cook and department leadership interview about 120 applicants, then pare those down to fill the coveted positions. His goal is to make sure that residents become competent, well-rounded surgeons who excel in patient care and surgical skills.

The resident training program offers learning opportunities across all orthopaedic specialties. In his supervisory role, Cook is responsible for overseeing resident education, curriculum, and well-being, as well as the application process. This is on top of his work helping children with bone issues, including infections, birth defects, spinal deformities, and trauma to bones and joints (including sports injuries).

The Thorpes’ gift will also be felt in the new Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center (see bottom of page 44). The KEDS Lab will move to a space four times larger at the new location.

“In the new KEDS Lab, our orthopaedic residents will get to practice a variety of techniques, including using equipment such as sawbones; these are composite bone models designed to simulate real bones,” says Cook. And virtual reality programs “will allow them to practice and observe what they are doing as they are doing it and make corrections along the way.”

The Thorpes’ support also will further collaborative learning. Experts such as Cook will be able to link various classrooms digitally to UR Medicine’s 150-person auditorium and to operating rooms so people can work and learn together no matter where they are.

Adds Cook, “As with computers, which tend to double in speed and power every 18 months or so, there’s a constant need for us to bring in new equipment and techniques. The Thorpes’ generosity helps us do that and keeps us on the cutting edge of surgical technology and training.”

“Judy and I are and remain grateful to those institutions from whom we received our education and preparation for work life. I did not attend the University, even though I grew up in Rochester. But I did my orthopaedic residency there. I felt well trained and very respectful of all my instructors— Drs. Evarts, Burton, DeHaven, Jackman, and many others. Judy and I are fond of having included the University in our grateful giving. I know many others are likewise so grateful.” —William P. Thorpe, MD (Res ’81), and Judy Thorpe

$1.5 Million Gift Establishes the Serletti Family Cleft and Craniofacial Humanitarian Outreach Initiative and Future Professorship

In the fall of 2022, Joseph Serletti (MD ’82, Res ’88) and Bonnie Serletti (MD ’90, Res ’94), made a $1.5 million gift to endow the Serletti Family Cleft and Craniofacial Humanitarian Outreach Initiative at URMC.

The Serlettis’ generosity will initially support local and international outreach and advocacy efforts of the Pediatric Cleft and Craniofacial Center within URMC’s Division of Plastic Surgery at Golisano Children’s Hospital.

In the future, the endowment will fund the Serletti Family Professorship, which will help attract, retain, and honor exemplary faculty clinicians in the plastic surgery division.

“The University of Rochester Medical Center is my home,” says Joseph Serletti, the Henry Royster-William Maul Measey Professor of Surgery, chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery, and vice chair for finance in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s where Bonnie and I were educated and trained and where I practiced for many years. It was important for me and Bonnie to give back to a place that gave us both so much.”