Surgery Residents - I have a question regarding orthopedics

[Trying2GetIn]

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I am beginning veterinary school this Fall (Aug /'12) at UC Davis and have a few questions regarding orthopedic surgery residency. I am a non-traditional student with a degree and previous career in structural engineering. I have heard, and can only assume, that such a background is advantageous in this field, however through talking to current students, very little physics/ mechanical analysis is discussed in the musculoskeletal modules. I guess the question I am trying to get at is, will my background actually be utilized in vet school or in residency? How much structural/mechanical analysis is actually done as an orthopedic surgeon/resident/student? I am currently interested in pursuing a residency and am curious about this topic. Any information regarding this specific topic, or pursuing orthopedics in general, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[david594]

I did my undergrad at an engineering school and I can tell you your background sadly won't be of much benefit during vet school. The depth they go into force analysis with different types of fracture fixation is at an incredibly basic level(this pin keeps it from bending, this plate keeps it from bending and rotating!). But if you decide to pursue research( summer research during school or a residency with a research component afterwards) you will be able to put more of it to use.

Thinking through the forces exerted by external skeletal fixation is really quite interesting.

 

[SilverSpyderGT]

When a prominent orthopod at Ohio State (his last name rhymes with Spice) heard that I had a BS in engineering, his exact response to me was, "Do you mean to tell me that you have a bachelor's degree in engineering and you're not going into orthopedic surgery?" I would interpret that as meaning that engineering is going to be pretty helpful if you want to do orthopedics. 🙂 TPLO planning is all about angles and planes, too.

Also, I would imagine that it would be quite easy to put together a great residency project that links orthopedics and engineering.

 

[david594]

Orthopedics is all Statics and Dynamics

Cardio is lots of fluid dynamics.

Endocrine is lots of closed loop control systems.

An engineering degree plays surprisingly well with lots of fields in veterinary medicine.

 

[Trying2GetIn]

Thanks for responding. I can definitely see how engineering principles can help one better understand the mechanics of the musculoskeletal system, I just don't know to what extent these principles are expected to be understood. I would like to assume I understand them much better than the average vet student (I should at least) but what advantage might I have over someone else without this background? I guess I'll have to see what vet school is all about before I delve into something like this.

 

[nyanko]

Thanks for responding. I can definitely see how engineering principles can help one better understand the mechanics of the musculoskeletal system, I just don't know to what extent these principles are expected to be understood. I would like to assume I understand them much better than the average vet student (I should at least) but what advantage might I have over someone else without this background? I guess I'll have to see what vet school is all about before I delve into something like this.

For the actual logistics of specializing in orthopedic surgery in private practice your background probably wouldn't mean squat. What it might help with is understanding it when you first learn it and helping you to think a little more outside the box when dealing with unique problems, which is obviously an awesome thing to be able to do but IMO is most useful in research. 😉