More than 100 students representing every medical school in Michigan and others recently attended the 5th Annual OSSM Research Symposium hosted by an OUWB student organization.
Led by the Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine Group (OSSM), the event was held Dec. 4 at the Red Ox Tavern, which is located adjacent to Oakland University.
Attendees heard directly from physicians about what it takes to land a residency in orthopaedics at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital (WBUH) in Royal Oak.
The event also allowed plenty of networking as well as several podium presentations.
Yzen Al-Marrawi, M2, OUWB, is president of OSSM. He said that in addition to every medical school in Michigan being represented at the event there also were students from University of Toledo and Tulane University.
“It speaks to how respected our school is, and how respected our program is,” he said. “This is a unique opportunity … to sit across the table from these attending physicians and ask them questions and get the real truth about what it’s like to apply for orthopaedic residency.”
Sponsors of the event were MioTech Orthopedic Group, Michigan Orthopaedic Surgeons, Vericel, and Arthrex.
Participating doctors were Aws Hammad, M.D., assistant program director pf the orthopaedic surgery residency program, WBUH, and assistant professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; James Bicos, M.D., director of the sports medicine fellowship at WBUH; and Leonardo Cavinatto, M.D., assistant professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Another participating physician was Joseph Guettler, M.D., associate director of the sports medicine fellowship at WBUH. Guettler has been involved with the program since it was started in 2020 by Maddie DeClercq, M.D., OUWB ’25.
“I’ve always had love for Oakland University,” said Guettler. “When I was originally asked to be part of this I said, ‘Yes, absolutely, what a great idea.’ Now, here we are, five years later.”
“This is a unique opportunity started by the OUWB medical students who have a thirst for othopaedics and sports medicine,” he added. “I am tickled pink to be able to continue to support it.”
A competitive field
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| Joseph Guettler, M.D., associate director of the sports medicine fellowship at WBUH |
Hammad served as main guest speaker for the event. He provided a realistic look at orthopaedic residency and what it takes to get in.
He cautioned that it’s not for everyone, that “your life will be a grind,” the days are long, work/life balance can be a challenge, weekends and vacations will be limited, and there is a fair amount of stress.
He also highlighted the fact that there is a lot of competition. WBUH’s program received about 500 applications in 2025 of which 60 interviews were offered — and all for six spots.
Still, Hammad said orthopaedic surgery offers technically exciting work, provides direct and rewarding patient impact, and there are strong financial advantages over other specialties.
“It’s very rewarding to be able to identify a problem and then fix that problem,” he said.
To help the symposium attendees, Hammad touched on research (should have research experience; posters/abstracts if no actual publications); letters of recommendation (need three to four strong letters; aim for all ortho); personal statements (don’t be weird; avoid relying on stories of childhood injury and instead be “truly unique”); and more.
Omar Abdalla, M2, Wayne State University School of Medicine, was among those to deliver a podium presentation. Presentations were judged by the physicians and Abdalla was one of three winners for his presentation, “Reliability and Ease of Use of the Detroit Squat Assessment, A Functional Benchmark of Lower Extremity Orthopaedic Health.”
(Other winners were Tareq Hanna from Wayne State and Abdullah Jalal from OUWB. Honorable mentions went to Jarod Carol, OUWB, and Nicholas Operti, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.)
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| Omar Abdalla, M2, Wayne State University School of Medicine, was among those to deliver a podium presentation. |
“This is a really good opportunity to network with like-minded individuals from Michigan,” said Abdalla. “It’s awesome that we have people here from every medical school in Michigan because it’s really interesting to see other people’s perspectives on the field and what their approaches are … it’s a really competitive field and we’re just trying to enjoy the journey on the way.”
Medical students from OUWB took advantage of the close-to-home opportunity.
“Orthopeadic surgery has definitely been on my mind (as a specialty),” said Luke Chi, M1. “It’s amazing to have this opportunity to meet physicians already in the field and network … it’s been a good reminder that this is what I want to do.”
Shane Rozeboom, M1, said he appreciated getting more clarity on going into the field.
“It’s very encouraging,” he said. “Instead of having this cloudier vision of what it takes, we’re getting blunt, direct advice of the expectations and how we should prepare.”
“I’m really appreciative of the wisdom they are giving us and what it looks like to ultimately get there,” he added.
For more information, contact Andrew Dietderich, senior marketing specialist, OUWB, at [email protected].
To request an interview, visit the OUWB Communications & Marketing webpage.
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