The Orthopedic Mystique

[capricorn24]

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Is anyone interested in orthopedic surgery? I bet there's a bunch of you out there. I seem to be more interested in those who get into the field rather than the field itself. There?s a mystique to it, and it's about the physical attributes of orthopedic surgeons. Whenever I see an ortho resident, I recognize the following:
1-male; in fact the alpha male thing
2-tall
3-muscular and attractive (college jock type)
4-the "I am the king of the world aura"

I mean what's next? Do they all have to be well-endowed down there too? The point is: is a superior physical look (face and body) an implicit (not publicized) requirement for residency and/or success in the field of Orthopedic surgery?

One more thing; some men have the ability to separate their sentiments and passions entirely from their brain and hands. Accordingly, those men can get into professions that are lucrative even if they're not into them. They just roll up their sleeves and get the job done; their hearts are sorta toughened up so to speak. I am sure that many medical students don't like orthopedics that much; still, many of those actually get into orthopedics and become successful at it. What is the orthopedic mystique? How can a lot of these men be successful at something that is not necessarily their passion? Off course, a minority of them do love the field. But do most of them not seem to be in it for the Benjies or for the pre-feminist testosterone--and somewhat homoerotic--climate?

Finally, can an average-looking short male get into the field?

Thanks

 

[Mongo]

I think I see some projection going on here

 

[ddmo]

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this post.

 

[capricorn24]

dont cry or laugh...just say whether you agree or disagree...do you think there's a pattern there or it's just selective vision?

 

[pikachu]

selective vision - there are more and more female ortho residents out there and definitely some non-typical guys as well, although there are definitely many orthopods who fit the missing link-hairy jock prototype. it's true that a lot of them are into athletics too but I think that has more to do with the sports medicine side of the specialty.

 

[DrTex?]

I think that when most people decide to be a doctor, they base this choice on a desire to help people like they, or a close freind of theirs was once helped. Most sports types have had a sports related injury at some point in their life, and it was an ortho who fixed them. Atheletes who have never been injured, at least have a friend who has been injured and fixed by an ortho.
It was after an ortho operated on me and fixed my arm that I injured snowboarding that I decided that I will enter a post-bac program and make a run for medical school. As I haven't even been accepted to med school yet I still haven't decided on a dream specialty, but I do think that ortho is an attractive option.
Considering the length of time that you will be practicing medicine, the looks and behaviors of current residents don't matter as much as the kinds of patients you will face, and spend most of your time with. I think that I could empathise much more with an ortho patient whose ordeal I have been through, than with an oncology patient or OBGYN patient.

 

[Howard Roark]

good luck

 

[GrandMasterB]

i am guessing capricorn got blackballed at all the fraternities/sororities at his/her school. get over yourself, who cares if you have a hardon for every ortho resident that passes by?

 

[Fusion]

I think that just about every medical specialty has its stereotypes. But they are just that - stereotypes. Many of the ortho docs and residents I have come across fit the profile, but most do not. Actually, a lot of them are on the skinny and/or short side. But they make up for it in attitude 😉

 

[Al Pacino]

i am guessing capricorn got blackballed at all the fraternities/sororities at his/her school. get over yourself, who cares if you have a hardon for every ortho resident that passes by?

LOL. When I read the description of the ortho jocks, I had the same thought. It was like the guy has a gay fetish or something. 😀

Seriously, to the original poster of this thread, why do you care so much about meeting or fitting into the conventional stereotypes. Why live life worried about weather or not people approve of you? If you REALLY loved the field orthopedics, do you honestly think you would be asking such nonsense questions.

As Ahnold would say, stop being a girlie man and go for what you want in life.😀

 

[carrigallen]

I read that a chief professor of orthopaedic surgery at Johns Hopkins is an achondroplastic dwarf. You can see his picture on their website. I guess they have a special operating protocols for his team, not sure how that works. 😵

 

[ddmo]

I think this post is ridiculous. Orthopods come in all shapes and sizes. If you don't become one, it's not based on your appearances, I promise you. So please, don't use that as an excuse.

 

[MediCane2006]

I'm speechless.....

 

[Discobolus]

I was an athlete in college, and I'd venture to say I was pretty accomplished at what I did. Most likely the most accomplished of the former college athletes in my class. I'm not claiming to be the best athlete (in fact I'm a pretty poor all-around athlete), but based on titles, championship meets, US and World rankings, etc. I was probably the most accomplished. Anyway back to my point.

When I was coming out of college I was telling everyone that I wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. Why was I saying this? Mainly because of the sports medicine aspect and it is kind of the default specialty of choice for former athletes. I can't say that I had a lot of interest in orthopedics, but I was trying to develop some.

Now I can honestly say that I have no interest in orthopedic surgery and want to go into Internal Medicine or an IM subspecialty. If I find I love surgery my 3rd year I think I'm much more likely to go the route of general surgery.

I guess I came to the conclusion that I'm going to be a doctor for a lot longer period of my life than I ever was an athlete and I should make my specialty decision based on what I truly find intellectually stimulating and not on some attempt to live vicariously though the athletes I treat or to keep a connection with my former athletic self (I can do that easily enough through volunteer coaching). I'm certainly not saying that all (or even most) orthopods have that mindset, but you have to admit some of them are frustrated former jocks who can't let it go.

So anyway although I agree that the people who go into ortho are quite varied (I've certainly seen a lot of short and skinny residents) and the "Animal House" mentality is not what it might have once been, there are still those who say they want to do ortho just because they are former athletes and it's kind of the default specialty.

I think a lot of the people that say they want to do ortho when they are M1's get weeded out though and the people that truly enjoy the specialty are the ones that end up doing it.

I should point out that I might not be a typical case. Although I was an athlete I certainly never was a jock (and I don't use that term negatively), I follow some college football and some Olympic sports but that is about the extent of me being a sports fan. There are a lot of guys in my class who are really into intramurals and fantasy leagues, but I've never cared for that stuff. So maybe I was just destined to be in IM with the rest of the nerds from the beginning 😀

 

[azzarah]

I read that a chief professor of orthopaedic surgery at Johns Hopkins is an achondroplastic dwarf. You can see his picture on their website. I guess they have a special operating protocols for his team, not sure how that works. 😵

I've seen him in elevators and he is super nice too. There are some female ortho attendings and residents here too....
Capricorn--Selective vision--definitely.

 

[kchan99]

The first non pediatrician I ever went to was an orthopedic surgeon for my scoliosis starting in 3rd grade. I really liked him because he didn't give shots. I thought he had magic because he could draw lines on my Xrays and tell me how curved my back was. I guess I thought he was nice because I didn't have to have surgery!

I had ankle surgery in January with an orthopedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle. I decided I didn't like him after the procedure. He threw away the tissue he took out from my ankle because he said that it "was scar tissue." Now my rheumatologist doesn't know what's going on. The office actually asked if I could get a biopsy report.

My mom got into argument with him two weeks after my surgery. He was telling me to do all these exercises while I was still in pain (at suture removal). I had wound dehiscence the day after and I went to the ER to get the smiling arthroscopy port site cleaned up. After the weekend, I went back to my surgeon's office. I told him I couldn't do those exercises yet. My mom asked him why he gave those, and he said that we should "...use [your] heads." My mom's English is not very good. My mom said that if she were more confident in her English, she would ask him where his head was. She was so mad. My mom took me to the outpatient surgery center. When my mom saw my surgeon for the first time (an hour before the procedure), she told me in Cantonese that he didn't look like a physician. She thought that he looked like a coach.

Anyway, I still think ortho as a career is cool.

 

[kchan99]

Too bad I'm only 5'1". If I go into ortho, I have to look up to everyone unless female gymnasts and dancers go into ortho.

 

[Adcadet]

ortho = college jock....damn, scratch ortho from my list.

I hear IM is where all the short, nerdy college guys go. Looks like I know where I'll be applying in 2 years.

 

[Mumpu]

In general, surgeons do have alpha male/female personalities and an overabundance of confidence. This is not necessarily bad -- the profession calls for decisiveness and you need to be very confident to believe that you can make someone better by cutting them apart and stitching them back together (I'm not saying this in jest). So I have a lot of respect for surgeons but it's not my cup of tea. You see similar personalities in emergency and critical care medicine.