Daily Duties of an Orthopedic Surgeon

An orthopedic surgeon is a highly trained practitioner of a specialized medical skill, but the job has its daily grind, just like any other. To be a surgeon means to perform surgery, but spending time in the operating room may not be a daily task. This can be especially true if the surgeon practices a narrow specialty, such as reconstructive hand surgery. The surgeon still has an office with administrative duties and other more mundane (but no less important) responsibilities.

Hospital Rounds

• Unless these are delegated to a physician assistant, an orthopedic surgeon should make daily visits to his surgical patients while they are still in the hospital. Such visits are called "postop rounds." This may involve reviewing the patient's chart and consulting with nurses or other technicians involved in the patient's care. The surgeon may or may not actually speak with the patients, but must check on their status. It may also involve going to multiple hospitals if the surgeon has patients at more than one. If the surgeon holds a staff position in a teaching hospital, these rounds may include meeting with medical students, interns and residents.

Office Visits

• Almost every surgical procedure starts with an office visit. Emergency surgeries for on-call surgeons are the exception. Office visits include direct appointments and consultations requested by referring physicians or other agencies, such as insurance companies. They may involve performing a detailed physical examination, making referrals for further testing and prescribing medications.

Documentation

• An old truism says, "If you don't write it down, it didn't happen." Patient care must be documented exhaustively. An orthopedic surgeon may hand-write notes, reports and letters, but usually dictates them. Orthopedic surgeons frequently prepare reports called IMEs (Independent Medical Examinations) and for some of these, the surgeon may not see the patient at all, basing his report solely on the patient's medical records, which he must review and comment on in great detail for another physician, an insurance company or a court case. Once the dictation is transcribed, the surgeon must sign the documents. Unless the surgeon is very confident of his transcriptionist, he reads the reports carefully for correctness before signing them.

Phone Calls

• An orthopedic surgeon makes and takes many phone calls. He must consult with other physicians, speak with members of patients' families and make many administrative arrangements. It's a common practice for orthopedic surgeons, like many other physicians, to set aside specific hours to make these calls.

Continuing Education

• An orthopedic surgeon has an obligation to maintain his medical skills at a current level, so he must read constantly about new surgical techniques and related medical advances in journals and academic papers. The volume of this information is such that "keeping up" can be a daily requirement.