Hey Everyone,

Does anyone have any information on orthopaedic oncology fellowships, or know anything about this profession? I am pretty well versed in the life and practice of a private practice ortho specialist, but I don't have much experience with ortho oncologists. I'm currently an MS I and I'm just curious about it since there is not much information I can find out there. Do most ortho oncologists go into academic medicine and research/clinical careers? Are there any private practice ortho oncologists?

Thanks a lot

Check out Dr. DeGroot's website (http://bonetumor.org/).

Complicated question. There are some "community" musculoskeletal oncologists, but most work at large or academic medical centers. It definitely pays to be part of a larger cancer care network - and is better for patients. Not all are necessarily heavily entrenched in research. You have to be at a place with a large referral network in order to get any number of cases because a lot of the conditions are rare. I think many MS oncologists will specialize in something else as well - our guy does joints and tumor. It seems like a neat calling to me, and a lot of the cases are interesting, but I just find it depressing dealing with cancer patients. And, don't forget they don't see all bone tumors, there's a lot of soft-tissue neoplasms out there. You get to work with adult and pediatric patients, which I think is good. I think some of the fellowships are 2 years.

Wow, thanks a lot. I wonder if MS oncologists that have multiple interests like the joint and tumor doctor if they can work in a orthopaedic specialty clinic or if they have to work in a cancer care center...any thoughts? Thanks.

Yes, there are private practice Ortho oncologists and not all "Academic" oncologists do much in the way of research. The key is is you're good at what you do and relate well to patients, and their families, in often difficult situations then you can carve out almost any type of practice you wish.

awesome, thanks for all your insight guys. I think Stan4rd has a great point, thanks again.

As one who was and still is looking at ortho oncology, I was told by a friend of mine who is an ortho resident, "Yeah, it sound great b/c you actually utilize some of what you learned in med school, but you have to be willing to go to work, hack off a young kids leg... and are you going to feel great about yourself then?"

In other words, it's not the most rewarding job. It takes a different breed, but to each their own.

I personally think it is depressing, but I would not say that it is not rewarding. It can be extremely rewarding and you can do great things for children and adults. Many find oncology the most ultimately rewarding specialty of all. To each their own.

bump.

Hoping to find more insight on this interesting topic.

bump.

Hoping to find more insight on this interesting topic.

According to the residents with whom I have had the good fortune to speak, some of the orthopaedic oncologists apparently are the best mentors out there. They are rumored to be phenomenally passionate about what they do, and many are gifted at sharing this passion through the teaching of residents and fellows. I would not know from personal experience. I have just heard lots of great things about this group.