In the
United States, orthopedic surgeons have typically
completed four years of undergraduate education and
four years of medical school. Subsequently, these
medical school graduates undergo residency training
in orthopedic surgery. The five-year residency
consists of one year of general surgery training
followed by four years of training in orthopedic
surgery.
Selection for residency training in orthopedic
surgery is very competitive. Approximately 700
physicians complete orthopedic residency training
per year in the United States. About 10 percent of
current orthopedic surgery residents are women;
about 20 percent are members of minority groups.
There are approximately 20,400 actively practicing
orthopedic surgeons and residents in the United
States.[ According
to the latest Occupational Outlook Handbook
(2011–2012) published by the United States
Department of Labor, between
3–4% of all practicing physicians are orthopedic
surgeons.
Many
orthopedic surgeons elect to do further training, or
fellowships, after completing their residency
training. Fellowship training in an orthopedic
subspecialty is typically one year in duration
(sometimes two) and sometimes has a research
component involved with the clinical and operative
training. Examples of orthopedic subspecialty
training in the United States are:
These
specialty areas of medicine are not exclusive to
orthopedic surgery. For example, hand surgery is
practiced by some plastic surgeons and spine surgery
is practiced by most neurosurgeons. Additionally,
foot and ankle surgery is practiced by
board-certified Doctors of Podiatric Medicine (D.P.M.)
in the United States. Some family practice
physicians practice sports medicine; however, their
scope of practice is non-operative.
