Orthopedic Surgeon Research Paper

“The purpose of a doctor or any human in general should not be to simply delay the death of a patient, but to increase the person’s quality of life.” Orthopedic surgeons treat a number of conditions that affect the bones, joints, muscles, tendons, and nerves. The training to become an orthopedic surgeon requires multiple years of hard work and studying, but in the end, the success is worth all the stress and struggle experienced on the way. Most doctors must dedicate every fiber of their being, countless hours of work, and years of stress in their chosen profession. Medicine is only for those who can’t imagine doing anything else.

The doctoring profession draws its roots to the time even before the ancient Greeks and since then, it has grown

exponentially off of the pillars of the medical miracles accomplished in the past. During the rise of Rome, Galen (129-199 BC), a Greek, became a gladiatorial surgeon.

His learning helped provide the best care possible for the Roman army. He is often referred to as the father of modern medicine, and many of his techniques and teachings were standard throughout the Middle Ages. In 1741, Nicholas Andry, a professor of medicine at the University of Paris, formed the word orthopedia out of two Greek words. Ortho meaning straight, free from deformity and paidios, a child. He combined these two words to express in one term his purpose, which is to teach the different methods of preventing and correcting deformities of children. Later on in the future many developments in orthopedic surgery resulted from experiences during wartime. These injuries were probably frequently lethal, especially if the skin was broken and infection set in. Those that healed may well have left the victim with a deformed arm or joint that was permanently out of alignment. Eventually, doctors developed ways to treat broken bones by looking at ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics depicting injured limbs wrapped and braced

to heal normally. As wars were waged on a larger scale and weaponry became more efficient and deadly, fractures and other bone injuries became more prominent. The use of intramedullary rods to treat fractures of the femur and tibia was pioneered by Gerhard Küntscher of Germany. This made a noticeable difference to the speed of recovery of injured German soldiers during World War II and led to more widespread adoption of intramedullary fixation of fractures in the rest of the world. Modern orthopedic surgery and musculoskeletal research have sought to make surgery less invasive and to make implanted components better and more durable.
Orthopedic surgeons specialize in the musculoskeletal system.

These physicians treat and diagnose illness and injuries such as broken bones and work trauma patients who need rehabilitation. Almost half of an orthopedic surgeons work is surgical and the remainder is medical treatment. To become an orthopedic surgeon one must follow an educational path through college to medical school and residency, a process that takes about 12 years. Medical school includes subjects such as human anatomy, physiology, chemistry, biology, human development and advanced mathematics. Most programs require an orthopedic surgeon to take 4 years of orthopedic residency training and one year in general surgery, internal medicine or pediatrics. In an orthopedic surgery residency, students learn to diagnose medical problems and begin to perform surgeries. They might also work in specialized areas such as spinal cord rehabilitation or with specific groups of patients like amputees. Students also attend lecture classes such as molecular biology, prosthetics and infectious diseases. Orthopedic surgeons must also learn specific skills that include methods of preventing infections, for example: washing hands, using sterile gloves or other protective equipment, and positioning and using surgical instruments. They use many tools to insert equipment parts such as rods, pins, and bolts; the surgeon must learn how to use all of these tools correctly or they can injure the patient by accident. In addition,

orthopedic surgeons require a variety of other skills. They must be able to see multiple approaches when solving problems associated with unusual injuries. They must also be able to manage their time well and solve problems using scientific methods. “They should have a strong service orientation and actively look for ways to help people.” Surgery is a team effort which means that a surgeon should be able to coordinate the activities of a team and communicate instructions calmly and clearly.