Ortho Volunteer Work

[Gator08]

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Random question: do you ever hear of orthopaedic surgeons doing volunteer work, especially internationally? I'm an MSIII with a fairly competitive Step 1 score (247), and I'm looking into ortho and plastics. I came into medical school absolutely sold on ortho, but I'm not as sure as I once was.

Plastics sounds like it's much, much more difficult to match into than ortho, but I really like the fact that there's a lot of opportunity in plastics to do international volunteer work (Operation Smile, etc). I've not been able to find much information on orthopaedic surgeons performing similar work. Thanks for the help.

 

[LuckyMD2b]

There are opportunities for orthopedic surgeons to volunteer overseas and even within underserved areas of our own country.

Contrary to popular belief there is a HIGHER incidence of osteoarthritis, fractures, and spinal deformity; than cleft lips. There is a lot that orthopedists can do to help communities that don't have access to quality medical care.

I actually would love to volunteer on missions to areas that could use an orthopedic surgeon at some point. I don't know of how I will get involved; don't really know many folks doing it -- but I'm sure if I continue to have the motivation there will be tons of people needing help. I've actually been google'ing orthopedic volunteer opportunities overseas and there are some programs. I don't think there as well known as operation smile, but they're there.

on another note, in medical school I also was trying to decide between ortho and plastics -- in retrospect i don't think the two fields are as similar as med students initially believe. I personally find orthopedics a lot more enjoyable than reconstructive plastics -- there are some similarities but I'm sure if you get enough exposure you can discover which field is more for you.

 

[LuckyMD2b]

Also I don't think we should down play that you don't neccessarily volunteer on a "mission" to help those that don't have access to care.

If you have an orthopedic clinic that gets referrals from an emergency room in some communities in urban areas of the US, every clinic will feel like you're volunteering in the developing world -- with the same financial rewards to boot.