Education / Training Program
The mission of the Bone and Joint Center is grounded upon a strong educational program designed to educate and train physicians and engage in community outreach programs. The Bone and Joint Center is instituting a cyberspace Internet classroom for instructing physicians in the use of computers, computer-assisted patient data collection, up-to-date interactive diagnosis and treatment guides, and development of innovative teaching methods. The continuing education of postgraduate physicians, residents, veterinarians, graduate students and medical students is a fundamental mission element of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. These efforts are facilitated by the Office of Educational Research and Services and Office of Medical Education. In addition, on-site facilities permit satellite links for teleconferening and presentations. These facilities are available to the Bone and Joint Center by terminal connections within a Bone and Joint Center classroom for on-site training. This classroom is contiguous with a Bone and Joint Center cadaveric techniques classroom so that hands-on teaching reinforces didactic material. The classrooms also share video and audio connections to facilitate learning encounters. Finally, the Bone and Joint Center didactic and cadaveric classrooms are linked to the Orthopaedic Surgery Learning Resource Center with video and audio links to the hospital operating theaters to permit real-time demonstrations of intra-operative techniques.
Community outreach is facilitated by the Office of Information and includes print, radio, and television media with regularly scheduled "Ask the Doctor" programs on local television and radio stations. In addition to newspapers, printed brochures and pamphlets are regularly produced for the clinic patients as well as public distribution. Finally, clinics and health screens are performed annually at local middle and high schools for students in physical education classes and students participating in sports. The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is the cornerstone of the Aegis Regional Hospital system serving northwest North Carolina.