The training to be an orthopedic surgeon is long and difficult, taking at least fourteen years from the day you start college. That may seem an eternity to a young person, but the time you spend as a medical student and as an orthopedic resident are years of personal growth, and of day-to-day involvement with the very mental and manual skills you will be using once your training is over. They are years that are fully lived, and are rewarding and fulfilling in their own way. They will fly by all too fast, and you will always look backwards to them with nostalgia.
To the young person thinking of becoming an orthopedic surgeon, the task may seem too daunting. You may have doubts about your ability to take on the awesome responsibility involved in making difficult decisions that directly impact individual patient lives. You may doubt that you will be able to develop the technical skills required to perform surgical operations to your own satisfaction, and to your patients’ expectations.
To this I can only say: if you have the intellectual capacity and the perseverance required to get into medical school, and into an orthopedic residency program, the rest will come. Be confident that the process will mold you into an orthopedic surgeon.
Orthopedic surgeons vary greatly in their degree of skill. The best orthopedic surgeons have good mechanical ability, a high degree of manual dexterity and excellent three-dimensional visualization skills. Interestingly, these skills develop and improve constantly over years of actually using them. For example, I was almost totally right-handed when I started out, yet now I am completely ambidextrous!
To become an orthopedic surgeon requires completion of four years of college, four years of medical school and five years in an accredited orthopedic residency program after medical school.
Orthopedics is an extremely competitive field. The 170 accredited programs in the United States offer approximately 650 residency positions a year. Most programs accept only those who graduate at or near the top of their medical school class.
Historically, there have been very few women who have chosen orthopedic surgery as a career. However, lately there has been an increase in the number of women entering orthopedic residency programs.
After completing the required residency program, the newly minted orthopedist is considered “Board Eligible”, and must then be certified as an Orthopedic Specialist by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery. The ABOS candidate must have completed the orthopedic residency, have practiced orthopedic surgery for two years, and must pass written and oral examinations offered by the Board.
After all this, you will be a general orthopedic Surgeon.
The field of orthopedic surgery is very big and it is almost impossible for the general orthopedic surgeon to excel in more than a few areas of expertise. For this reason many orthopedists choose to focus their practice on one or more specialized fields such as joint replacement surgery, hand surgery, spine surgery, sports medicine, pediatric orthopedics, foot and ankle surgery, and shoulder surgery, to mention a few.
To further qualify as an expert in a chosen field, many orthopedists take a year of additional training as a “Fellow”, i.e. a paid trainee, at a center where a high volume of cases is focused on one particular subspecialty field. Some subspecialty fields, such as hand surgery, offer a Subspecialty Certificate after completion of the Fellowship training.
However, your training does not end there. You will have to continue to attend courses throughout your professional life: to keep you current with orthopedic knowledge, and to improve your skills.
In order to remain Board Certified you will have to log an average of 40 credits of continuing education each year (240 credits over each six-year period), and will have to pass a Re-certifying Examination every ten years.
Hard as all this may seem, orthopedics will give you a fulfilling and satisfying life. Every day will be interesting, challenging, and rewarding. I have performed almost seven thousand hip replacements and over five thousand knee replacements. I have not kept track of the countless hip fractures, arthroscopies and minor procedures I have performed. I recently attended a concert at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles with my wife. The theater was packed to capacity. My wife noted from the program that the concert hall held 2000 people. She turned to me and said, “Look around you honey. You have operated on more than six times as many people as are in this theater”.
That certainly put things into visual perspective! It makes me feel good to know that I have made a personal difference in so many lives.
More Information on becoming an Orthopedic Surgeon.
And yet more info on how to become an orthopedic surgeon.
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY.
You do not have to be an orthopedic surgeon to enjoy a fulfilling life in the field of orthopedics.
Orthopedic surgery is a team effort, and without dedicated nurses, assistants, and technicians no orthopedic surgeon could begin to perform the orthopedic miracles that are now so commonplace and routine.
HOW TO BECOME AN ORTHOPEDIC PHYSICIAN'S ASSISTANT.
More info on becoming an orthopedic Physician’s Assistant.
HOW TO BECOME AN ORTHOPEDIC OPERATING ROOM TECHNICIAN.
More info on becoming an operating room technician.
And still some more information on becoming an O.R. Tech.
And yet some more
GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES IN ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY.
GENERAL ORTHOPEDIC INFO.
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