By Lana Bray


Orthopedics is a surgery course that deals with musculoskeletal system. Orthopedists may use surgical means, non surgical or both when they are treating injured patients or patients who have degenerative diseases, congenital disorders or tumors. To become a Maryland orthopedic surgeon is a hard task. It all starts with studies where a person must study for four years as an undergraduate and also four years in medical school.

After graduating from medical school, there is another five years that needs to be done in residency training. In these five years, one is for general surgery and the rest are for practice in orthopedic surgery. An orthopedist may also consider doing fellowships after getting done with residency training. Fellowship training takes a year or two in orthopedics. Some of the subspecialties in orthopedics are pediatric orthopedics, elbow and shoulder surgery, musculoskeletal oncology, arthroplasty, hand surgery and spine surgery among others.

Some of these subspecialties also fall in other surgical medical categories. Hand surgery for example is not only carried out by orthopedists but also by plastic surgeons. Spine, ankle and foot surgeries are also good examples of surgeries that can be carried out by multiple physicians. Licensed Doctors of Podiatric Medicine can do foot and ankle surgeries while spine injuries surgeries can be done by neurosurgeons. To fully be acknowledged as an orthopedic surgeon, it is necessary to be certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties or American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists.

A person must sit for exams set by these boards. He must do oral and written exams which aim to test his clinical and surgical performance over a time period of six months. These boards set the standards high by requiring students to excel in the exams with almost perfect scores because of the logic that there cannot be any mistake done when operating on a patient.

One of the common techniques used by an orthopedic surgeon in treating an injured patient is arthroscopy. It helps a patient to recover from a surgery in a short period of time contrary to open surgery which may force the patient to take a long time in recuperating. Knee arthroscopy which is one of the well known medical procedures where arthroscopy is employed is sometimes combined with chondroplasty or meniscectomy for a more effective treatment.

Another method of surgery mostly used in orthopedics is arthroplasty. There are materials which are used in this method to replace joints such as metals and high density polythene. You may be forced to settle for this method when you need a hip joint replacement. It also works well for replacement of spinal joint, wrist and elbow joints.

If you think of orthopedic surgery as a potential career choice, do a research first on the various subspecialties that fall in this profession. Also assess the money you may need for studying the course. Note that many medical courses are expensive to pay for.

The high fees should not chase you away if orthopedic surgery is what your heart really wants. Look for loan or sponsorship opportunities around you neighborhood. High school education will also determine if you will become a Maryland orthopedic surgeon or not. You must succeed in high school and pass impressively in science subjects.




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