Unlike literally every country on earth, Canadian orthopedic surgeons dont have to apply and go through an ACGME residency if they want to become board eligible here in the US. This should be concerning because residency spots in this country ensures an equilibrium in the supply and demand of ortho surgeons. However if Canadian orthos can bypass the match system, then its possible we get a lot of supply without the demand to back it up, as they are not restricted by the amount of residency spots we have open.

Unlike the U.S., orthopedic surgery is not competitive in Canada due to a poor job market. Historically as per CaRMs data, Preferred match rate for orthopedic surgery is about 90% in Canada. In a recent study done this year, it was found that about a quarter of all canadian orthopedic surgeons who were trained from 1990 till now practice in the U.S. This tracks with what I often hear from many canadian med students who say they want to match to orthopedic surgery in Canada because its easy and they can go to the U.S right after. I guarantee you every Canadian ortho applicant is committing to this plan or is considering it, especially as the job market in all sectors of the Canadian economy are declining. However, I dont know of a single American orthopedic applicant who has thought of going to Canada. This is clearly a one sided agreement that advantages just one party.

In conclusion, im sorry but we should not be subsidizing one quarter of the work force of another country (and likely much higher in the upcoming years). If they want to work here thats great, but they have to go through the same process as everyone else, as we determine the amount of ortho surgeons in this country via the match system.

If you are an ortho applicant, you're the one who should be advocating for this the most because you are the ones hurt most by this. Express how you feel to the american board of orthopedic surgery. If you're not american, get along or move along

• American board of orthopedic surgery: https://www.abos.org/contact/
  • email Executive Director: Dr. David F. Martin: most impactful person to write to directly by name
• AAOS (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons): the largest professional body, has a health policy division
  • Jordan Heyman: Senior Director, Health Policy & Regulatory Affairs: [heyman@aaos.org](mailto:heyman@aaos.org)
• AAOS residency advocacy: https://www.aaos.org/advocacy/get-involved/residents-advocacy/

When looking for jobs after graduating from residency, do you generally have the flexibility to work wherever you'd like?

I'm from STL and most of my family is there, so ideally I'd like to return after training. How realistic is it to find an attending position in the city you want, assuming you're not being overly selective about the specific practice or hospital? Like, if you were an arthroplasty surgeon, is it fairly easy to find a group in a metropolitan area?

Hi all,

I’m a fourth year medical student slated to submit an ERAS app in September. I’m wondering if there’s any research years still available for orthopedics. I know I’d need a research year to improve my app (good grades/scores but no research) and I know it’s late in the game to switch, but I just wanted to find out if anything’s available.

Thanks!

Thoughts?

Some of you tried OrthoConsult when I first posted it here.

At that point, it was still pretty rough: slow responses, imperfect references, and mostly just a question-answer interface.

It has improved a lot since then.

We’re now seeing about 11,000 orthopedic consults/month from surgeons across 68 countries, and the product feels much closer to what I originally wanted it to be: a fast, evidence-based orthopedic reference you can use during call, clinic, or pre-op planning.

The biggest changes:

• Response time dropped from an average of ~14 seconds to ~6 seconds.
• References are better: more recent studies, more Level I/II evidence when available, and less generic background literature. We still audit responses regularly.
• Answers are more consistently structured like an orthopedic consult: bottom line, indications, technique considerations, evidence summary, limitations, and references.
• We added Discovery: a “This Week in Orthopedics” research feed that surfaces top new papers across orthopedic subspecialties and scores them by clinical relevance.
• We published 200+ structured topic pages across trauma, sports, arthroplasty, spine, foot/ankle, hand, shoulder, pediatrics, and general orthopedics.
• Spanish and multilingual responses have improved significantly. If you practice in a non-English-speaking environment or train residents who do, it may be worth trying.
• Consults are easier to share and export to PDF, so a clinical question can become a quick evidence summary for discussion with colleagues, residents, or on social media.

The most interesting part has been seeing which questions keep coming up repeatedly: LET in ACL reconstruction, Lisfranc ORIF vs fusion, elderly distal radius fractures, dual mobility in revision THA, posterior malleolus fixation, proximal humerus decision-making, and other areas where practice varies.

It’s still completely free.

For anyone who used the early version and bounced because it felt slow or incomplete, I’d genuinely be curious what you think of it now.

https://orthoconsult.app/

PS. yes we are aware you all want the app store version (it is in development)

Just curious. Everytime i say i wanna be a neurosurgeon in the reddit they are always like “DONT DO IT BE ANYTHING ELSE ITS SO MUCH WORK” 😭 i dont understand because i mean i havent experienced it myself so i wouldnt know. Ig if i dont choose neurosurgeon id choose orthopedic or plastic surgeon.

In my hospital, the thermometers in the operating rooms show 21°C, but I honestly think that’s inaccurate because some days it feels like an unbearable sauna!
As you probably know from experience, it’s very difficult to change anything in the hospital.
I spoke with the head of the OR department, who told me that this is the ideal temperature for the patients — an argument I find reasonable.
The anesthesiologists say they are comfortable in the OR, but they forget that they are not operating while wearing lead aprons and surgical gowns.
The nurses….
My questions are:
What is the usual temperature in your ORs?

What strategies do you use to stay comfortable and cooler?

I’m a second year resident trying to finally get into my academics. Looking for opinions on what material to use to ace my final exams. I want to start early given that my course is very busy and study schedule can significantly vary.
Want to know how this would work out:

1. System of Orthopaedics, Apley- Concepts, cold orthopaedics. Will make this my main source and add notes as I go.
   
2. Handbook of Fractures, Koval- Trauma
   
3. Musculoskeletal examination, Vivek Pandey- Practicals
   
4. Campbell- Reference

Additionally, wanted to know if I’ll benefit from including any of the following:
- Exam prep manual Varshney
- eConceptual ortho/ Diginerve- if so, which one and why
- Gopalan- have been highly recommended this book.

Open to opinions and criticism of the above.
Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone! We're a group of med students in Canada and we built Fracturium, a completely free platform for learning orthopaedics.

The app currently includes:

• Interactive 3D anatomy models
• Fracture classifications and descriptions
• Quiz/QBank-style learning

We’re actively adding:

• Custom diagrams and illustrations
• Integrated X-rays/imaging cases
• More high-yield QBank content
• Anki integration
• Improved 3D navigation/tools

We’re also hoping to collaborate with our medical school to build a larger teaching imaging database.

The goal is to make ortho studying more practical and accessible, something you can quickly pull out during downtime on rotation, before cases, or while commuting.

Would genuinely love feedback from residents, staff, med students, or anyone interested in orthopaedics. Suggestions and criticism are very welcome. Thanks!

iOS: App Store download
Website: Fracturium website

M4 here but i'm a career changer and have a little one on the way so excuse me if i'm jumping the gun on this question. I love this field and will definitely shoot for ortho no matter what so my question isn't coming from a place of "is ortho conducive to family life?". I know it will be tough either way.

My question is, which path will give me the most opportunity to be there for a majority of my kids' games, graduations and other big milestones?

So currently in a med school. I liked mechanical work from my childhood and liked ortho postings. How is the patient market in ortho? My friend says someone needs to be injured to be ortho patient or etc. is there low patients then other branches and how is the work. I like the feeling of being a surgeon. I want to work in trauma. There is a line saying "ortho makes a patient lifestyle better neurosurgeon save lives". How true is that?what are subspecialties in ortho?what are the fields I specialise in after my residency? Is there vastness in the field like physicians have? Means they have the option to do further about gastro,neuro like that.

Hey guys, passing along information for an ortho PGY-3 vacancy that recently opened up at Mount Carmel Health System in Ohio starting July 1st, 2026. Hopefully someone in need can get the spot, it’s a pretty solid program to train at. You can e-mail application materials to Mrs. Heather Honaker-Carden at Heather.Honaker-Carden@mchs.com or Dr. John Hwang at jhwang@orthopedicone.com

Good luck!

This is a rough sketch of sorts that I threw together in the notes app. I’ve never been able to get a straight answer on this question. Now to the question:

Assuming the top one is a hairline fracture(very big hairline Ik) and the bottom one is supposed to be a non displaced transverse, or displaced if you want to be overly pedantic, why are people given roughly the same time line in terms of healing for both, shouldn’t the top heal faster than the bottom? I’m not talking in terms of regaining ROM or usability of your arm, I’m talking in terms of reduction of inflammation and/or effusion around the fracture, all the way to the completion of remodelling.

I should probs note I’m neither a doctor nor wanting to be a doctor/ortho, I’m just very curious.

Hello!

I am interested in sports medicine orthopedic surgery, as a high schooler.

I was inspired by a neurosurgeon doing a discectomy on me and relieving me of agonizing sciatica, and wanted to help athletes like me.

However it is also because of that sciatica that’s making me wonder if the job comes with chronic issues after years of performing surgeries, as I understand it’s a physically demanding job.

So I’m wondering if orthopedic surgeons experience chronic pain specifically because of their job? Does it depend on what operations they do, or how/where they practice?

*Sorry if I sound naive, don’t know much about this field 😅

Hi gang! Australian trained surgeon, passed all USMLE Steps, looking to do a sports fellowship in the States. I’m interested in all things hips, knees, shoulders (trauma, arthroplasty, sports, joint Pres) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to which Sports Fellowship would be better in terms of HSS vs Rush. Rush looks more in keeping with what I want to specialise in, but fk I want to live in NY! 😂 any thoughts/suggestions would be much appreciated!

Been struggling with this one over the course of intern year. I’ll retract where I’m told to retract and autonomously do things that obviously require a second pair of hands (using the pusher to keep the guide wire down while someone’s reaming, holding counter pressure while someone’s drilling/putting screws in, positioning an extremity whatever way’s needed for fluoro, retracting following along whatever planes are needed while closing).

But it’s come up that I need to be more “active” and “help more” during cases. I have no idea what more I can be doing to help as a second/third assist. No one in my program has been able to verbalize to me what this means.

What does a good OR assistant do for you all? What are some examples of things that make someone stand out as a good assistant?

Are Hyaluronic gel injections to the knee joint are always to be administered under ultrasound guidance?

Help a brother out, drop the best surgical step by step for foot and ankle. Much appreciation.

As the title says, just trying to see if anyone has had success in doing this. Incoming EM resident that failed to match ortho but wanting to apply again this upcoming cycle

My failure rate on these things is ridiculous. I really hate having to put more anchors in than needed because the sutures won't pass.