Activities	According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, an orthopaedic surgeon is a physician devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of injuries, disorders, and diseases of the body’s musculoskeletal system.
Outlook	Average job growth
Median Income	$166,400+ year in 2008
Work Context & Conditions	Surgeons typically work in well-lighted, sterile environments while performing surgery and often stand for long periods. Most work in hospitals or in surgical outpatient centers. Many physicians and surgeons work long, irregular hours. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, for the average orthopaedic surgeon a 60-to-80 hour work week is not uncommon.
Minimum Education Requirements	M.D.
Skills	Learning Strategies, Monitoring, Critical Thinking, Instructing, Writing, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Equipment Selection, Time Management, Complex Problem Solving, Active Learning, Judgment and Decision Making, Coordination, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Science
Abilities	Oral Expression, Finger Dexterity, Manual Dexterity, Speech Recognition, Deductive Reasoning, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Problem Sensitivity, Written Comprehension, Selective Attention, Near Vision, Speech Clarity, Inductive Reasoning, Oral Comprehension, Written Expression

Job Category
Job Description		According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, an orthopaedic surgeon is a physician devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation of injuries, disorders, and diseases of the body’s musculoskeletal system. This system includes bones, joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, and tendons. While orthopaedic surgeons are familiar with all aspects of the musculoskeletal system, many orthopaedists specialize in certain areas, such as the foot and ankle, hand, shoulder and elbow, spine, hip, or knee. Orthopaedic surgeons may also choose to focus on specific fields such as pediatrics, trauma, reconstructive surgery, oncology (bone tumors), or sports medicine. Orthopaedic surgeons treat patients of all ages – newborns, children, athletes, baby boomers, and the elderly – with conditions that range from abnormalities of the fingers and toes, back pain, ruptured disks, sciatica and scoliosis, bone tumors, muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy, club foot, bunions, bow legs, knock knees and unequal leg length, fractures and dislocations, growth abnormalities, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, sports or work-related injuries, tendon injuries, pulled muscles, bursitis and torn cartilage, torn ligaments, sprains, and strains.
Working Conditions		Orthopaedists typically practice in one of three settings. Solo practitioners work for themselves, although they may share office space and clerical help with other orthopaedists or other physicians. A large number practice in orthopaedic groups. In most cases, two to six orthopaedists work together, sharing costs for the office, seeing each other's patients, and providing continual "coverage" in hospital rounds, as well as other means of working together. In many groups, there may be a number of generalists and a number of other orthopaedists who do most of their work in a particular area such as the hand or spine. The third typical practice setting is in multispecialty groups, where a number of orthopaedists work together with other specialists, such as internists, family practitioners, and cardiologists. Generally, the larger the multispecialty group, the larger the number of specialties are represented.
Salary Range		According to a 2008 Physician Compensation Survey, entitled, "Modern Healthcare", July 24, 2008; the annual salary for orthopaedic surgeons ranges from $372,400 to $512,500.

Education Required		According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, to become an orthopaedic surgeon you must complete four years of college, four years of medical school, and five years of accredited graduate medical education. Most approved orthopaedic residency programs now provide four years of training in orthopaedic surgery and an additional year of training in a broad-based accredited residency program such as general surgery, internal medicine, or pediatrics. A few programs require two years of general surgery prior to three years of clinical orthopaedic studies. Orthopaedics is an extremely competitive field. There are approximately 650 residency positions available each year in the 151 accredited programs. Candidates for orthopaedic residencies generally graduate at the top of their medical school classes. Most have completed a full orthopaedic rotation in medical school. About 7 percent of current orthopaedic surgery residents are women; about 20 percent are members of minority groups. Research experience is encouraged in many programs, and clinical rotations may occur in one or more affiliated hospitals for basic or special educational needs such as pediatric orthopaedics or rehabilitation. Orthopaedists can choose among many areas of special interest as a focus for their practice, and many physicians spend an additional six months to a year in training in a particular area of interest. Fellowships are available in areas such as hand surgery, pediatric orthopaedics, reconstructive surgery, spine, foot and ankle, shoulder, and sports medicine. Each year, the orthopaedic surgeon spends many hours studying and attending continuing medical education courses to maintain current orthopaedics knowledge and skills.
Recommended High School Courses		Biology, Mathematics, English, Chemistry, Physics
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Medicine and Dentistry
Certification and Licensing		According to the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, to be certified as an orthopaedic specialist a candidate must complete the orthopaedic residency, practice orthopaedic surgery for two years, and pass written and oral examinations offered by the board. To become board certified, an orthopaedic surgeon must undergo a peer-review process, and then demonstrate his/her expertise in orthopaedics by passing both oral and written examinations given by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic surgeons must complete 120 hours of (CME) every three years to maintain their certification.

Interest Area		Investigative Involves working with ideas and requires an extensive amount of thinking. Realistic Involves working on practical, hands-on problems and solutions, often with real-world materials, tools, and machinery.
Work Values		Independence Work alone. Working Conditions Good working conditions. Recognition Receive recognition for the work you do. Advancement Opportunities for advancement.
Skills		Learning Strategies Use multiple approaches when learning or teaching new things. Monitoring Assess how well someone is doing when learning or doing something. Critical Thinking Use logic and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. Instructing Teach others how to do something. Writing Communicate effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience. Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Service Orientation Actively look for ways to help people. Equipment Selection Determine the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Complex Problem Solving Solving novel, ill-defined problems in complex, real-world settings. Active Learning Work with new material or information to grasp its implications. Judgment and Decision Making Be able to weigh the relative costs and benefits of a potential action. Coordination Adjust actions in relation to others' actions. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information. Science Use scientific methods to solve problems.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Finger Dexterity Able to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. Manual Dexterity Able to make quick, coordinated movements of one or two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. Speech Recognition Identify and understand the speech of another person Deductive Reasoning Able to apply general rules to specific problems to come up with logical answers, including deciding whether an answer makes sense. Arm-Hand Steadiness Able to keep the hand and arm steady while making an arm movement or while holding the arm and hand in one position. Problem Sensitivity Able to tell when something is wrong or likely to go wrong. This doesn't involve solving the problem, just recognizing that there is a problem. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Selective Attention Concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. Near Vision Able to see details of objects at a close range (within a few feet of the observer). Speech Clarity Able to speak clearly so listeners understand. Inductive Reasoning Able to combine separate pieces of information, or specific answers to problems, to form general rules or conclusions. This includes coming up with a logical explanation for why seemingly unrelated events occur together. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences. Written Expression Able to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Related Jobs		Veterinarian, Podiatrist
Job Outlook		There are approximately 20,400 actively practicing orthopaedists and residents in the United States.
More Information		American Medical Association - Health Care Careers, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, American Orthopaedic Association, American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine
References		American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, on the Internet: http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00274 American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery on the Internet: https://www.abos.org/ModDefault.aspx?module=Public&section=PubBoardCert American Medical Association, on the Internet: http://www.aamc.org/students/cim/specialties.htm Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-2011 Edition, Physicians and Surgeons, on the Internet: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos074.htm O*NET Online, on the Internet: http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/29-1069.00