Ortho lifestyle?
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Haha ortho is certainly not one of the ROAD specialties.
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Ortho is not a ROAD specialty. ROAD = Radiology, Optho, Anes, Derm. Some people try to add EM.
Going off what I generally hear and my experience shadowing a PP ortho doc for the summer, ortho is not easy at all. Also at the hospital where I do my rotations, ortho is a very busy service.
May not be as bad as GS but if you want a lifestyle specialty you should stay away from surgery. If you're desperate to do surgery then ENT or Urology have relatively good hours
What do you mean by brutal? Long surgeries (cant imagine they re as long as neuro or cardiac surgeries)? Complicated surgeries? Fast paced?
Also how does call work out for most ortho docs? Do people in a group rotate taking a weekend at a time? What about the weekdays? Or does every doc just take their own call?
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brutal in that if you are on call for ortho trauma you will almost definitely be very busy. MVAs have tons of broken bones. That being said, a lot of community hospitals that are level 3 trauma centers don't neccesarily get tons of trauma.
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I am not a practicing surgeon, but I am currently doing away rotations in ortho. I think the question truly depends on what sub-specialty you chose and what area you chose to practice. If you are the only orthopaedic surgeon on call in a rural area, then whenever someone breaks a bone, you will be called...so that lifestyle aint all that good, but you will be rewarded financially because you are all they have. If you are at a busy academic center in the city (where most med students rotate) then what you will see is that the hand surgeons tend to take hand call (which can be rough or chill depending on who decides to use a skill saw while drunk again that night). Its the trauma ortho guys who tend to have to come in the most for pelvic, femur, tibia, supracondylar, etc. fractures. Where I'm at now, the trauma surgeon comes in quite often, however the hand guys almost never come in because we rarely see that stuff in terms of trauma.
So yeah, orthopaedic surgeons are busy....people break a ton of bones at 3 am on a saturday night. Its not chill like the ROADS specialities. But if you do a fellowship in hand, are work in a practice where someone else takes care of trauma calls, then it could be lifestyle friendly. But generally sleep doesn't come easy on a call night for an orthopaedic surgeon (at least where I am rotating).
So yeah, orthopaedic surgeons are busy....people break a ton of bones at 3 am on a saturday night. Its not chill like the ROADS specialities. But if you do a fellowship in hand, are work in a practice where someone else takes care of trauma calls, then it could be lifestyle friendly. But generally sleep doesn't come easy on a call night for an orthopaedic surgeon (at least where I am rotating).
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Ha ha ha ha ha . . .
Dude, Hand call is some of the most brutal call around. It's rare for a non-Hand trained orthopod to take hand call, making for a small call pool. While Hand stuff isn't the Cat I trauma kind of stuff, it can be very busy. Lots of guys find a way to drop out of the call pool because they get sick of the bull$hit.
How much does a busy private practice ortho generally make per year? How many hours per week do they tend to avg? Been wondering foy a while..
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Ortho is tough for a US IMG from the Caribbean. You might want to look at backups.
Only 3 US IMGs matched last year and this year. It is likely those three have amazing stats and publications.
Only 3 US IMGs matched last year and this year. It is likely those three have amazing stats and publications.
As an IMG I wouldn't even think I had shot, except that my uncle is a surgeon and heavly involved with the ortho residency program at his hospital and he is confident that he could help me get a spot.
I always wanted ortho or anesth. (interest in both) but kinda put ortho to the back of my mind and was pretty happy just applying for anesthesia (still very interested in it).. But recently my interest in ortho has come back
My biggest question/concern is as a ortho surgeon would I be able to already some semblance to a normal family life? I don't mind hard work or taking a busy call every 3rd/4th weekend but I don't want to be constantly away from my family. Family is very important to me and as a guy I know I can be away from home than a women but I don't want my kids to grow up without a dad.. Do you think as an ortho doc you can work under 60ish hours a week? Do you Believe the ortho doc you work with have good family lives?
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Why don't you just ask your uncle?
My uncle is a general surgeon and is a work-o-holic haha.. But he doesn't seem to think he is, so I don't know what is definition of brutal maybe?
Why would I ever think your uncle was an orthopaedic surgeon? Hmmmmm? Oh yeah, now I remember...
Haha.. yea hes a g-surgeon but at his hospital the general and ortho surgery residency programs work closely together.
I'm interested in knowing how the lifestyle really is for ortho too. I have a few specific questions. I know these questions have a range for the answer which is fine. Maybe somebody could give me a high end and low end estimate on some of them?
1. What is the schedule like 3-5 yrs or so after residency?
a. How many hours a week do you work 3-5 yrs after residency?
b. How much call do you take typically in that same time frame?
2. Which subspecialties have better/worse lifestyle?
3. Subjectively, are you worked to the bone or is it not that bad?
1. What is the schedule like 3-5 yrs or so after residency?
a. How many hours a week do you work 3-5 yrs after residency?
b. How much call do you take typically in that same time frame?
2. Which subspecialties have better/worse lifestyle?
3. Subjectively, are you worked to the bone or is it not that bad?
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I don't know... all the relatives I know whose fathers were mostly stay-at-home, part-time types are more screwed up than those whose fathers worked 60+ hours a week. You're still a role model when you're busting your ass and not around. Obviously quality time is important here, but more time together doesn't always turn out normal and grateful kids.
Work ethic is a learned behavior.
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I think the average hours for ortho is about 55-60. Considering how early the mornings often are, I can't see why it'd be particularly difficult to be around to spend time with the kids after school. They have their own lives, too, it's not like they're going to miss you for those 3 hours after school before you get home, or the nights when you have to get up and go to the hospital. I also think the workaholic types who are never around, or the bad parents, would find ways to do so regardless of their career paths. Don't let "lifestyle" scare you away from a specialty. If you love it, you love it. If you are happy and passionate about your life, your family will benefit.
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