Any Skinny, short, non athletes in ortho?

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does the field intentionally try to keep it a Male ex-jock fraternity? Does someone like Earl Boykins (5'3) have a harder time becoming an orthopod than Kobe........every ortho I know has a 17 inch neck

Originally Posted by spotdiagnostics

does the field intentionally try to keep it a Male ex-jock fraternity? Does someone like Earl Boykins (5'3) have a harder time becoming an orthopod than Kobe........every ortho I know has a 17 inch neck

Its not about how you LOOK, its about your PERSONALITY. Orthopedic surgeons come in all sizes and shapes, but they all somehow share similar personality traits:

-Outgoing
-Interested in sports (naturally since they like fixing bones)
-Extroverts
-"Life of the party" personality
-Easy going
-Calm

I do not think you will find any introverts, "book worms", or shy people in Orthopedics. PDs tend to be attracted to applicants who share their personality.

I don't totally agree with the stereotype. I'm not an ex-jock and a lot of the residents and attendings I work with are not either. Sure, there are a lot athletic guys and we do tend to be outgoing, etc., I guess.

What we have in common most is our love of orthopaedics! We all have our reasons for this, and they are varied.

I know an orthopedic surgeon who is a little man, he needs a step stool in the OR for pretty much every case. He is also a smart guy, the inventor and patent holder of the bio-absorbable meniscal staple/barb and stapling device. He is the calmest nicest guy, is so humble it's unreal. He likes to go heli-skiing, if that means anything, but I think he is shorter then 5'6 (besides, it's harder to fit into a porsche when you get to be over 6')

I'm an OR nurse who's interviewing at med schools now, but as far as the stereotype goes, I've only met one orthopedic surgeon who was a jock/meathead, and he was actually a very smart guy. All the orthopedic surgeon's I've worked with were either 130 lbs and 60 years old, or like 45 and fat.

Originally Posted by Leukocyte

Its not about how you LOOK, its about your PERSONALITY. Orthopedic surgeons come in all sizes and shapes, but they all somehow share similar personality traits:

-Outgoing
-Interested in sports (naturally since they like fixing bones)
-Extroverts
-"Life of the party" personality
-Easy going
-Calm

I do not think you will find any introverts, "book worms", or shy people in Orthopedics. PDs tend to be attracted to applicants who share their personality.

except for the sports comment (though liking sports is pretty common among the surgical resident demographic), from my experience this stereotype is wildly inaccurate... some things that i have noticed that ortho residents have in common: they're smart, and don't like to manage any medical issues. other than these 2 things, the ortho residents that i know come in all shapes/sizes/degrees of athleticism, and personality types.

Originally Posted by Celiac Plexus

except for the sports comment (though liking sports is pretty common among the surgical resident demographic), from my experience this stereotype is wildly inaccurate... some things that i have noticed that ortho residents have in common: they're smart, and don't like to manage any medical issues. other than these 2 things, the ortho residents that i know come in all shapes/sizes/degrees of athleticism, and personality types.

Whereas, for the most part, I think what Leukocyte said is true. It's not physical, but personality. The program at my hospital has 40 residents. Many are former or future military - one who will be a Navy staff orthopedist in 2 months, who bikes ~200 miles/week, another who was a flight surgeon for 3 years, another who went to the same military school as me, who spent 7 years as a SEAL, another who went to our rival military school, and more - so they all function and flourish in a regimented environment. One guy was a football player when he was undergrad at Duke (his brother quarterbacks for the Bears). Another guy comes from a family that was one of the original settlers in Maryland 400 years ago. One of the 3 female interns runs so much, I thought SHE was "The Fugitive". There's a guy from Australia who's just hilarious. There's another guy that is Texas up and down, and wears his boots with his scrubs every single day (except one - he said he felt naked without them).

There's one guy that's a pain in the ass, but, out of 40, one isn't bad. Mostly, our ortho people are open, somewhat to rather extroverted, easygoing, calm, just all around "good" people. I've never had one refuse to show me how do something, or to turn their noses up to me, or (except for the one guy) even give me a hard time about coming to see a patient. When I rotated on ortho, they took me right in - residents and attendings both included me, and didn't treat me like the "red headed stepchild".

As for the "life of the party" - THAT stereotype IS true, from my looking. This group is WILD to go out with. A more fun time out you will not have.