News Archive

This spring, three Duke Orthopaedic Surgery faculty members in the Duke University School of Medicine have been awarded distinguished professorships.

The OTD 2024 class was commissioned into service as fieldwork and capstone students.    Thirty-eight OTD 2024 students were joined by family, friends, faculty, and staff at the Grand Hall of the Trent Semans Center. Students will spend the next year completing two 12-week fieldwork assignments and 14 weeks executing capstone projects. 

The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) has granted the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program Pre-Accreditation status. ACOTE identified the following strengths: innovative subject-centered integrative curriculum, holistic admissions, diverse student cohorts, staffing, authentic assessment and learning experiences, supportive institution, student leadership, faculty scholarship, and the faculty’s engagement in developing and accessing our curriculum.

The "Better Together" Symposium featured Duke Head Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski; William Levine, MD, who chairs the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University; Shawn Roll, PhD, who directs the doctoral program in Occupational Therapy at the University of Southern California; and Maurizio Pacifici, PhD, who directs Orthopaedic Research at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Learn more about the surgical team, led by Oke A. Anakwenze, MD, MBA, Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, a surgeon and head of Duke’s shoulder section that performed a flipped bipolar pectoralis transfer, which required assistance from a plastic surgeon experienced in soft tissue repair.   

The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery hosts a yearly research day where Faculty and Chief Residents highlight their research through a podium presentation. Postdoctoral research fellows/associates, undergraduate research students, medical/DPT/OTD or graduate research students, and residents/fellows present posters and research papers for an award and monetary gift. Recipients are selected based on the overall evaluation of their research project. Congratulations to our 2023 recipients:

The combined Spine Fellows from across Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery departments, along with residents from both specialties, practiced the management of spinal intraoperative emergencies in a high-fidelity simulation in the operating room used for spine surgeries. The group worked with Duke Ortho faculty members Melissa Erickson, MD, and Brett Rocos, MD, on strategies to manage critical situations. 

Our 'Inside the Lab' series features the innovative research projects Duke Department of Orthopaedic Surgery students, faculty, and staff are actively pursuing this year. Jennifer Bent, DPT, is the Duke University Site Coordinator for ForceNET, an NCCIH and NINDS U24, in which Chad Cook, PT, PhD, Program Director, Interim Chief, Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Physical Therapy, is an MPI. 

Topic: Empowering Foot and Ankle Clinical Interventions with Advanced Technology to Study 3D Morphology and Kinematics Amy L. Lenz, PhD – Research Instructor, University of Utah – School of Medicine Grand Rounds on May 24 – 6:30 a.m. In-person: Interprofessional Education Building, 311 Trent Drive, Durham, NC

Our 'Inside the Lab' series features the innovative research projects Duke Department of Orthopaedic Surgery students, faculty, and staff are actively pursuing this year. Today, meet the Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery Research Team. Medical student, John Atwater, has been working with their research group during his MS3 year, focusing on healthcare equity in idiopathic scoliosis through institutional retrospective studies and reviewing a national database to study trends of spinal fusion over the past 20 years.