Intro to the PGY Playbook

The Strasser Standard is the foundation of the entire playbook system. Before you learn what a specific rotation expects of you, this explains the thing no one writes down: how attendings decide who to trust, and how that decision turns into operative opportunity.

Written by Dr. Nicholas Strasser, a board-certified, fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeon and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center — the expectations he actually holds residents to, put in writing.

What's inside

• The Five Pillars of Trust: integrity, ownership, preparation, engagement, anticipation
• The Development Ladder — Observer, Contributor, Owner, Multiplier — and how to tell where you sit today
• Trust builders and trust destroyers, named specifically
• Reading the room: recognizing what the patient, surgeon, and team need next
• The Trust Score framework used across every PGY playbook

Who it's for

Medical students heading into an orthopedic rotation, interns starting residency, and any resident who wants to understand why some trainees progress faster than others. Read it once and it applies to every service you will ever be on, regardless of subspecialty.

Start here, then continue

Pair it with the PGY playbook for your training year, or take a complete rotation pathway as a bundle.

Format: Digital PDF. Instant download after checkout. Reads on your phone between cases.