Mount Sinai Orthopedic Surgery Residents: How the Program Helped Them, and Where They’re Going Next

Mount Sinai’s five-year Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program selects just seven residents from hundreds of applicants a year. Situated within the expansive Mount Sinai Health System, residents train across five hospitals that offer a diversity of patient types and pathologies.

The program equips residents with a range of professional skills while immersing them in every facet of orthopedic care, from outpatient medicine to inpatient care and surgery. Empowered with the knowledge and skills they need to become outstanding surgeons, Mount Sinai orthopedic residents are routinely placed at the most competitive subspecialty fellowships after they graduate.

“We are proud of the world-class training available in the Mount Sinai Orthopedic Surgery Residency program,” says Paul J. Cagle, Jr., MD, Associate Director of the Program, and Associate Professor of Orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “Our residents are future leaders in the world of academic and clinical medicine.”

Dr. Cagle leads the program alongside Program Director Bradford O. Parsons, MD, Professor of Orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Leesa M. Galatz, MD, MBA, Mount Sinai Professor and Chair of the Leni and Peter W. May Department of Orthopedic Surgery.

“It has been a pleasure seeing our residents progress through the program and go out into communities and into academic positions,” says Dr. Galatz. “They have made a tremendous impact on the lives of the patients they treat, and we are extremely proud of each and every one of them.”

Below, current Mount Sinai orthopedic residents discuss their personal experiences with the program.

Christon Darden, MD

I will be attending a sports medicine fellowship at Inova Sports Medicine in Fairfax, Virginia. It means a lot to me to be focusing my training on something I have been passionate about for a long time. I am also very excited to be going back to my home state and to be working under another amazing female mentor.

Throughout my time at Mount Sinai, I have had some amazing mentors. My faculty mentors in Sports Medicine have helped to foster my professional growth by being approachable, supportive, and knowledgeable teachers, and giving feedback that consistently helps me improve. A lot of our faculty have also been life mentors to me, advising me and supporting me with the overall navigation of residency, family, and life. Having a child during my residency was not easy, but having mentors who sent me food, baby clothes, and support, even while I was away on maternity leave, was unmatched and a testament to the relationships formed. I am forever grateful for the mentorship I have gained at Mount Sinai.

David Kantrowitz, MD

After residency, I am attending a fellowship at the James Andrews American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. I am excited to learn innovative surgical techniques as well as how to be a great team physician. It will be incredible to learn how to take care of elite athletes from those who do it best. It also means a great deal to train in the lineage of James Andrews, MD, the father of sports medicine, who co-founded the American Sports Medicine Institute, as well as one of my personal mentors, James Gladstone, MD, Chief of the Sports Medicine Service, and Associate Professor of Orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As they say at the University of Alabama: Roll Tide!

I have been fortunate enough to have many great mentors at Mount Sinai. All of the attendings have contributed to making my experience here great and have helped me develop my diagnostic, clinical, and technical skills.

David Forsh, MD, Associate Professor, Orthopedics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, taught me foundational surgery skills in orthopedic trauma. Dr. Cagle was one of my most formative teachers for early arthroscopic skills in shoulder surgery, upon which Dr. Parsons helped me build.

Dr. Gladstone; Shawn Anthony, MD, MBA, Associate Chief of Sports Medicine for the Mount Sinai Health System, and Assistant Professor of Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Surgery; Aruna Seneviratne, MD, Associate Professor, Orthopedics; and Alexis Colvin, MD, Professor of Orthopedics, and Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs, all at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, have been instrumental in helping develop my arthroscopic, knee, and sports medicine surgery skills, as well as contributing to productive research endeavors.

Brett Hayden, MD, Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has always been a close friend and mentor throughout residency, helping me navigate challenges and pushing me to think critically about complex patients and be the best clinician I can be.

And finally, my assigned faculty mentor at the start of residency, Jaehon Kim, MD, FAAOS, FACS, Director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship at the C.V. Starr Hand and Upper Extremity Center, Director of the Mount Sinai Orthopedic Resident Research Committee, and Associate Professor of Orthopedics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has always made sure that all residents were maintaining personal wellness and making time for some fun.

Alexander Lieber, MD

After five great years of residency at Mount Sinai, I am excited to head to Charleston, South Carolina, where I will be doing a foot and ankle fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina. The mentorship and support from Meghan Kelly, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Orthopedics, and Nicholas Richardson, MD, Assistant Professor, Orthopedics, both at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, were invaluable as I grew as a surgeon and as an individual throughout residency.

William Ranson, MD

I will be moving to Tampa to continue my training as a shoulder and elbow fellow under the mentorship of Mark Frankle, MD, and Mark Mighell, MD, at the Florida Orthopaedic Institute. I am excited to further my skills in the management of complex revision shoulder replacement.

I consider myself fortunate to have had mentors who were not only world-class surgeons, but also leaders in our Health System and the greater orthopedic surgery community. Spending months in the operating room with Drs. Galatz, Parsons, and Cagle has been of incredible benefit to my surgical skills and clinical knowledge as a future shoulder and elbow surgeon. Working with all three of these mentors outside of the OR has allowed me to observe different leadership styles, which I subsequently emulated and implemented throughout my year serving as Administrative Chief Resident. The development of both my surgical skills and approach to leadership has been invaluable to my overall professional development and would not have been possible without the mentors I had throughout residency.

Kathryn Whitelaw, MD

I will be entering a Harvard Shoulder & Elbow Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston next year. I am excited to focus on a wide spectrum of shoulder surgeries as well as complex scapulothoracic work. I am grateful to my mentors at Mount Sinai for their incredible work in the field and guidance throughout the application process, including Drs. Galatz, Cagle, and Parsons.

Christine Williams, MD

This summer, I will start my fellowship in orthopedic hand surgery at the Curtis National Hand Center—a great honor. Matching into this program has been my dream ever since I decided to pursue hand surgery. I am so grateful to continue my training at such a remarkable program and would not have been able to do it without my incredible mentors.

The mentorship at Mount Sinai has been incredible for me throughout my residency. There are many attendings within the subspecialty that I am pursuing, as well as outside the subspecialty, who helped me along the way. I am forever grateful for the support they provided and know they will continue to provide support throughout my career.

Noor Maza, MD

I’m thrilled to be starting my spine surgery fellowship—an incredible milestone I’ve been working toward for the last nine years. This achievement is deeply meaningful to me, especially knowing that Latino orthopedic surgeons make up only about 2 percent of the field, with an even smaller fraction being women, and fewer still specializing in spine surgery. It’s a huge honor to represent my community in this space, and I’m proud to take this step not only for myself, but for those who rarely see themselves reflected in these roles.

I wouldn’t be here without the unwavering support and guidance of my mentors, especially Andrew Hecht, MD, Chief of Spine Surgery for the Mount Sinai Health System and The Mount Sinai Hospital, and Professor, Orthopedics, and Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. From the very beginning, he has created space for me to show up as my full self in a field that hasn’t always been built with people like me in mind. He has championed me every step of the way—believing in my potential, pushing me to grow, and opening doors that have helped shape my path. Through research opportunities, travel, and the chance to network at national conferences, he’s helped me build both skills and confidence. More than that, he truly walks the walk when it comes to supporting women in orthopedics, investing his time and energy in making sure we succeed and feel seen. I’m incredibly grateful to have had him in my corner.

I would also like to mention Baron Lonner, MD, Clinical Professor, Orthopedics, and Pediatrics; Samuel Cho, MD, Professor, Orthopedics, and Neurosurgery; and Saad Chaudhary, MD, Associate Professor, Orthopedics, all at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who have each played a key role in my development. Their patience, guidance, and willingness to teach me in the OR have made a lasting impact, and I’ve learned so much from working alongside them.