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Orthopedic Surgeon
HealthcareYou're basically a carpenter with a medical degree. You drill, saw, screw, and hammer bones back together using tools that look like they belong in a hardware store. Your patients are athletes with torn ACLs, grandparents with bad hips, and construction workers who fell off ladders. The surgeries are physical, the hours are brutal, and the pay makes it all worth it.
Salary Range
Low
$350k
Median
$500k
High
$700k
10-Year Growth
average
US Workers
20K
Education
Medical degree (MD/DO) + 5-year orthopedic surgery residency + optional fellowship
Environment
indoor
Tools & Technical Skills
- ▸Joint replacement surgery (hip, knee, shoulder)
- ▸Arthroscopic surgical techniques
- ▸Fracture fixation (plates, screws, intramedullary nails)
- ▸Musculoskeletal imaging interpretation (MRI, CT, X-ray)
- ▸Spinal fusion and decompression surgery
- ▸Surgical navigation and robotic-assisted systems (Mako)
People & Mindset Skills
- ▸Precision and fine motor skills
- ▸Decision-making under pressure
- ▸Team leadership in the OR
- ▸Patient communication
- ▸Physical stamina
What you'll actually do
- 01Perform joint replacements, ACL repairs, and fracture fixations using power tools in a sterile room
- 02Review MRIs and X-rays with patients and explain why their knee sounds like a bag of gravel
- 03See 30+ clinic patients who all want surgery yesterday
- 04Dictate surgical notes at 11 PM because the day was wall-to-wall cases
- 05Manage post-op patients who think they can run a marathon two weeks after knee replacement
- 06Argue with insurance companies about why a 65-year-old with bone-on-bone arthritis needs surgery
- 07Maintain hand strength and surgical stamina through procedures that can last 4+ hours
Related Shifts
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