What are the pros and cons of being an ortho surgeon vs the pros and cons of going the FM route and doing a sports medicine fellowship???

What are the pros and cons of being an ortho surgeon vs the pros and cons of going the FM route and doing a sports medicine fellowship???

There is a substantial amount different between these two specialties. I can't speak too much to the fam med sports med fellowship but from what I do know I would say the major differences are that surgeons operate, they make significantly more money, they work more hours and they don't treat patients chronically. Most people don't choose between these two specialties because most surgeons wouldn't be happy being family med doctors for three years before fellowship and most family med docs wouldn't be happy doing 5 years of orthopaedic surgery before fellowship. Most family med docs are medicine types while most ortho docs are ER types.

Just curious, but are you even in medical school?

There is a substantial amount different between these two specialties. I can't speak too much to the fam med sports med fellowship but from what I do know I would say the major differences are that surgeons operate, they make significantly more money, they work more hours and they don't treat patients chronically. Most people don't choose between these two specialties because most surgeons wouldn't be happy being family med doctors for three years before fellowship and most family med docs wouldn't be happy doing 5 years of orthopaedic surgery before fellowship. Most family med docs are medicine types while most ortho docs are ER types.


Just curious, but are you even in medical school?

Just a high schoolers exploring different routes for future.

What are the pros and cons of being an ortho surgeon vs the pros and cons of going the FM route and doing a sports medicine fellowship???

Ortho pros: SURGERY. Interventions to "fix" a problem. Immediate results. Usually more money than primary care sports med.
Ortho cons: Some people would like more "medical" care in their practice (not many, but some). Little time as a surgeon to concentrate on diet/endocrinology etc...

Primary care sports med pros: See ortho cons. Very unlikely to have any significant call responsibilities, better lifestyle.
Primary care sports med cons: No surgery (usually, unless you are also a first assist). You get the non-op "crap" and crazies dumped on you by the practice group that employs you.

First get into medical school. Do well and find out what fields of medicine interest you. You will be surprised and might end up in a field you did not even consider.

Just a high schoolers exploring different routes for future.


At least half the people in my med school class choose a different specialty than they originally intended.

First figure out if you're-
1-cut out to be a doctor, (smart enough, hard worker, etc)
2-willing to postpone much of your life during your twenties and early thirties
3- willing to still become a doctor if Obamacare, or something similar goes through and we all make as much as postal workers, despite our years of education.

The ability to perform surgery.

The ability to perform surgery.

Excellent question and good that you are looking into this early. Its never wrong to try to learn more about something.

Ortho pros IMO: Excellent compensation, definitive care, prestige.

Ortho Cons: Hours, trauma call, being 50 yrs old and still in the hospital at 3am, etc. Long, intense training, you don't know much medicine. ;-P

PCSM pros: I can treat every body system (acute and chronic), money is great as well (though not orthosurg level - $500k based on 2010 MGMA mean), still in the $250k range. No call, spend my evenings and nights with family, wife, etc. No trauma call. 90% of ortho issues/what comes through the door do NOT need surgery. I can also treat kids, their families, etc. We still do plenty of procedures in the office.

PCSM cons: For the cases that DO need surgery, your partners will need to do this. Note that at our ortho group, PCSM/Ortho surg are not differentiated in scheduling new patients. We all get patients from the same initial pool. Of course we try to have continuity and post ops are typically seen by the PA or surgeon..etc.

Keep in mind that we are all reimbursed the same for standard office visits/procedures; 99213. 99214 office visit, injections, MSK US, epidural steroids, orthotics, etc etc.

In the end both are fantastic fields, once in med school you should do rotations in both and then make your decision. I have a great working relationship with my orthopaedic colleagues and we all certainly need each other. I am probably a bit more comfortable with tendinopathies, athletic issues, stress changes and they are certainly more comfortable with trauma, joint replacements, etc. We are all pretty good with typical fractures, strains, tears, sprains, lumbar disc, facet issues.