Orthopedic surgeons are specialists in dealing with conditions of the muscle and skeletal system. This includes problems with joints, bones ligaments, nerves muscles, and tendons. Based on Medscape’s Medscape Physician Compensation Report for 2019 Orthopedic surgery is the most lucrative of all medical specialties.
In contrast to other specialties in medicine, the patients of an orthopedic surgeon don’t usually have life-threatening ailments. Orthopedic surgeons instead use the most advanced medical technology to aid patients in regaining mobility and ease discomfort. Orthopedists also focus on injuries sustained during sports, and some have even had the chance to treat athletes at the professional level.
There’s a lot of appreciation for orthopedic surgery when you’re thinking about it as your own specialization in medicine. However, orthopedic surgery is one of the most sought-after medical specialties, with the highest debt on student loans, according to the American Medical Association.
Does the salary of an orthopedic surgeon worth the student Consolidationnow Energency loans debt? Yes, especially if cautious about what you’ll do following your residency.
The education and training requirements for becoming an orthopedic surgeon
The orthopedic surgeon begins their educational journey by obtaining an undergraduate degree that lasts for four years. The next step is to be able to pass the MCAT before enrolment into medical school. They then begin obtaining their medical degree (MD) usually takes four years.
Following completion of medical school doctors who are interested in pursuing an orthopedic surgery-related specialty should apply for open positions in residency. As per the American Medical Association (AMA) jobs in orthopedic residency programs are one more competitive among the medical specialty areas.
If you’re one of those lucky medical school graduates who have been accepted into the orthopedic surgeon residency there, you’ll have to commit to at least five years at the residency. At the end of five years of residency training, orthopedic surgeons will be competent to sit for an exam called the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery examination.
Orthopedists that intend to focus on hand surgery or sports medicine the hand will have to undergo additional fellowship or residency training to be qualified to be board certified. All in all, an average orthopedic surgeon is expected to dedicate between 13 and 15 years of their studies and training.
The average salary for orthopedic surgeons
Every year Medscape annually releases its Physician Compensation Report every year. Orthopedics has been among the top five most lucrative specialties in each of the last five reports. And in the most recent report, which was the one for the year 2019, orthopedics was ranked at the top of the list at. 1 with the average salary for orthopedic surgeons of $482,000.
Orthopedists who are self-employed earn higher than their employees. The median private orthopedic surgeon was $505,000 as opposed to $459,000 for orthopedists employed by employers.
Orthopedic surgeon student loan debt
Recently, the AMA has released a list of five specialties in medicine that burden graduates with the most debt. The list was compiled using information from a JAMA Internal Medicine research letter that contained responses from over 13,610 medical school graduates between 2010 to 2016.
Orthopedics are tied for the No. 2 with an average orthopedic surgeon debt totaling $190,000. The study also showed that 74.2 percent of orthopedic surgeons who graduated were in debt from their school, and 27% of them had the burden of student debt of more than $200,000.
These numbers are all the more alarming considering that the initial five-to-7 years of the repayment process for the majority of orthopedic surgeries are during the residency. Medscape discovered that the average orthopedic surgeon’s salary is $60,700, which is nearly 8 times lower than the amount orthopedic surgeons who are board-certified earn.
