The Department is committed to academic excellence, and well established programmes in basic and clinical sciences are in place. The aims of the Department are to provide undergraduate and postgraduate training in Orthopaedic Surgery and to perform research related to Orthopaedics. This ranges from fundamental studies of the mechanical and biological behaviour of skeletal tissues through to implantable devices. There is a separate Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital on the Foresterhill site. Woodend Hospital, where all adult elective orthopaedics are performed, is approximately 1.5 miles away.
Close ties exist between the academic and service departments.
All medically qualified academic staff hold honorary service contracts and undertake service responsibilities. Members of the Department are involved with Scottish and UK Research and Policy Committees. The Department serves a population of approximately 650,000 and acts as a secondary and tertiary referral centre for the North East of Scotland, embracing Orkney and the Shetland Islands. There are over 3,000 trauma admissions per year and 3,500 elective admissions. There are a full range of fracture, general elective, specialist and children's orthopaedic clinics.