What It Takes To Become A Maryland Orthopedic Surgeon

By Lana Bray


Orthopedics is a branch of surgery that focuses on conditions that involve the musculoskeletal system. An orthopedic surgeon employs nonsurgical and surgical means to provide treatment to patients who are suffering from sports injuries, tumors, congenital disorders, and degenerative diseases. The journey of becoming a Maryland orthopedic surgeon begins with education. It is a must for a person who aspires to become an orthopedist to complete a four year undergraduate program plus another four year education program in medical school.

After graduating from medical school, there is another five years that needs to be done in residency training. In these five years, one is for general surgery and the rest are for practice in orthopedic surgery. An orthopedist may also consider doing fellowships after getting done with residency training. Fellowship training takes a year or two in orthopedics. Some of the subspecialties in orthopedics are pediatric orthopedics, elbow and shoulder surgery, musculoskeletal oncology, arthroplasty, hand surgery and spine surgery among others.

Some of the subspecialties are also found in other professions. Doctors of Podiatric Medicine who are licensed can also do foot and ankle operations. Another good example of a specialty shared by orthopedists and other physicians is spine surgery. Despite orthopedists being qualified to operate on spines, neurosurgeons are also qualified to do so. Plastic surgeons can also carry out hand surgeries. For someone to earn the status of being called an orthopedist, he must be certified. Two bodies that give certificates to orthopedists are the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists and the American Board of Medical Specialties.

It is necessary to sit for exams created by these boards. Usually, the boards set oral and written exams which are meant for testing the surgical and clinical performance of an orthopedist over a period of six months. The boards specify that it is a must for anyone who is aspiring to become an orthopedic surgeon to excel in these tests due to the reasoning that errors are not allowed when treating patients.

One of the common techniques used by an orthopedic surgeon in treating an injured patient is arthroscopy. It helps a patient to recover from a surgery in a short period of time contrary to open surgery which may force the patient to take a long time in recuperating. Knee arthroscopy which is one of the well known medical procedures where arthroscopy is employed is sometimes combined with chondroplasty or meniscectomy for a more effective treatment.

Arthroplasty is also a popular medical procedure used by orthopedists. It is a procedure that aims to replace a joint with another material such as a metal or a high density polythene. If you need a replacement for your hip joint for instance, one of the treatments that you may be offered to choose is arthroplasty. Other joints that may call for an arthroplasty type of treatment are elbow joints, wrist joints and spine joints.

If orthopedic surgery is the profession you want to master, begin with carrying out a research on the different specialties that it has. Also conduct a research on the fee needed to do the course. The fees for most medical courses are high however.

The high amounts of fees should not discourage you if this is your top choice career. Look for education loans from various education organizations around your area of residence or sponsorship deals. It is important however that you should obtain high grades in high school especially in science subjects if you aspire to become a Maryland orthopedic surgeon.




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