Residency Match Canada · Program Research Profile
Western University Orthopaedic Surgery
2026 Match
What the research profiles of this year's 6 incoming residents actually look like, by specialty relevance, presentations, and notable activity, not just publication count.
Program Director: Dr. Parham Rasoulinejad
6
spots filled this match cycle, unchanged from 6 in 2025. Every stat below describes this full cohort (n=6).
3.0
avg. confirmed publications
2.8
avg. first or second authored
0.7
avg. orthopaedic relevant
Program context
Source: https://www.carms.ca/match/r-1-main-residency-match/program-descriptions/
Selection weights
Selection weights not published
What the program says it looks for
- Strong academic performance is expected for interview consideration.
- Onsite electives are not required.
- Selection is based on the CV and the CaRMS application documents.
- Candidates interested in both basic science and clinical research are encouraged to apply.
Where research appears
Research shows up in file review (publications or scholarly work), indirectly at interview through CV questions, and as a mandatory part of training in years 2 to 5, including a three block research rotation in year 3.
51 to 200
applicants per year
51 to 75%
interview invite rate
Inference, not the program's wording
Research has no separate published weight. It appears inside broader file review and interview assessments. With more than half of applicants invited, research may matter more at final ranking than at the invitation stage, but the program page does not confirm that split.
Gaps: international medical graduate applicants face additional requirements (return of service, language and examination requirements, extra documents) that are not reflected here, and CaRMS lists stream quotas as approximate.
Where this cohort came from
Western University
University of Toronto
University of Ottawa
IMG
Schools are shown as a set only and are not matched to the individual research profiles below, since with a cohort this small that pairing would make individuals identifiable.
Per resident breakdown
Orthopaedic relevant
Other medical
Both confirmed papers are history of medicine writing in a student-run medical journal, one first authored and one second authored. Neither is orthopaedic, and no clinical or laboratory research was found in public sources. Publication dates for both fall before match day.
Highest volume in the cohort by a wide margin, and nearly all of it first or second authored. None of it is orthopaedic: 8 basic neuroscience papers in journals such as Cerebellum and Glia, 2 ophthalmology bench papers, and a first authored retrospective cohort study on soft tissue sarcoma outcomes in a surgical oncology journal, the closest this resident comes to musculoskeletal work. The record is almost entirely original basic science rather than clinical protocols. One additional neuroscience preprint is not counted.
Notable: completed doctoral research in neuroscience before medical school, which accounts for the basic science papers above. Also authored a book chapter on cerebellar development (not counted), co-authored an interview style piece on the history of Canadian medicine in an open access format, and produced a visual abstract summarizing the sarcoma paper.
* Includes 1 paper published after match day, potentially submitted prior to application.
The most orthopaedic focused record in the cohort: all 3 papers are directly relevant and all are first or second authored. Two are spine surgery studies in The Spine Journal, a prospective registry cohort study of who reaches a meaningful improvement after lumbar decompression, which also builds a preoperative risk stratification tool, and a cost-effectiveness analysis of lateral spine surgery*. The third is a first authored orthopaedic trauma case report.
Notable: holds prior health sciences and biomedical science degrees completed before the MD.
One second authored paper in Frontiers in Neurology, a neuroimaging study from a medical imaging research group, outside orthopaedics.
Notable: also contributed to several conference abstracts (not counted), two on concussion care in sport medicine, one of them first authored, and one on MRI in stroke.
Zero confirmed publications does not mean none exist, only that none were found in public sources.
One second authored orthopaedic trauma case report, published in the International Journal of Case Reports in Orthopaedics. A case report sits at the lighter end of the research weighting, but it is directly relevant to the specialty.
Items found in public searches that belonged to a different author with a similar name were excluded.
Reading this data
Most of this cohort's published research sits outside orthopaedics. Only 4 of the 18 confirmed papers are orthopaedic relevant, and they come from 2 of the 6 residents. PGY1-B accounts for 11 of the 18 papers, in neuroscience, ophthalmology and surgical oncology, while PGY1-C holds the most orthopaedic focused record, all spine and trauma work and all first or second authored.
Output is uneven: three of the six residents have one paper or none, and the rest range from 2 to 11. The program itself says it welcomes candidates interested in both basic science and clinical research. Program weightings may change from year to year.
