1 answer
Mia
Student
East Rutherford, New Jersey
2
Questions
Asked
1100 views
What does it take to become an Orthoplastic surgeon ?
What does it take to become an Orthoplastic surgeon?
What majors and minors do I need to become an Orthoplastic surgeon?
What skill sets should I focus on to become an Orthoplastic surgeon?
What certifications are required for an Orthoplastic surgeon?
What does a typical day look like for an Orthoplastic surgeon?
What do you think is the most challenging aspect of an Orthoplastic surgeon?
What percentage of an Orthoplastic surgeon is done independently vs. as a team?
What does it take to advance as an Orthoplastic surgeon senior leadership position?
1 answer
Karin P.
Lecturer, Academic Advisor, Career Coach, Mentor
1239
Answers
Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
Updated
Karin’s Answer
Hi Mia,
It's great that you are interested in a career in the medical field. Orthoplastic surgery is a highly specialized field within medicine that combines bone and joint care with soft-tissue and microsurgical reconstruction to treat complex limb injuries, trauma, and birth defects. You'll need to go to medical school and specialize through residency and fellowships. So, it's a long journey, and each step is competitive. You'll need excellent grades and a high MCAT score as well as medical experience and volunteer hours.
Let's look at the steps:
In order to become a medical doctor, you first need to earn a bachelors degree (4 years) in any field. Next you take the MCAT before you can apply to medical school. Medical school is another 4 years and you'll earn your MD or DO. You then decide on a residency and fellowships where you specialize and ultimately take the board exam for that specialty.
Since you are still in high-school, you should take all the science and math classes you can get (biology, chemistry, physics, math) to be well prepared for college. If your high-school offers classes related to health such as psychology or anatomy, you should take those as well. It's good to take on challenging classes like AP to boost your GPA. You can also consider a dual enrollment program to earn college credits if it is available.
In order to get into a good undergraduate program and later into medical school, you also need to start getting experience in medical settings and volunteering in the community. People get medical experience in a variety of ways. You can look for shadowing opportunities if you want to consider different medical specialties. You can look for internships, volunteer opportunities or small jobs in e.g. hospitals or with doctors (even if it is just as a receptionist). There are also certifications such as CNA, EMT or phlebotomy that would allow you to work medical jobs while you are in school.
You can major in any field for your bachelors degree. Consider your interests, your career goals but also look at your undergraduate degree as a backup plan in case medical school doesn't happen (because life happens). Many students opt for a biology, chemistry or biochemistry major because it would cover most if not all of the science pre-requisites for medical school. Just be aware what the pre-requisites are and that, should you opt for a non-science major, you might need longer to graduate because you might need to take extra classes. Look up medical schools that you would consider and check their admission criteria and pre-requisites so you have the correct information. I left a link for Harvard medical school as an example below.
During your undergraduate studies, you should also get in more medical experience and (if possible) research experience. It doesn't have to be medical research, but being in any science department certainly helps to get involved in meaningful projects.
Before you can apply to medical school, you need to study for and take the MCAT. You can take the test during your junior or senior year. Many students also take a gap year after their bachelors to study for the MCAT and get some more work experience, either clinical or in research. If you opted for a non-science major, a postbac program to complete the science pre-requisites is an option.
If you get admitted to medical school, you'll study general medicine for 4 years. There is no need to know from the start which specialty you want to go for. The first 2 years are mostly classroom learning while the last 2 years are clinical and include rotations through different specialties. You'll then decide on a specialty that you want to pursue and apply for residency in that specialty hoping to "match".
There is no direct "orthoplastic surgery" residency program in the US. Students who want to go into that direction first complete a residency in orthopedic surgery (5 years) or plastic surgery (6 years) and then specialize further through a fellowship that trains them in microsurgery, complex extremity reconstruction, and limb salvage.
You can then obtain board certification through the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) or the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS)
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
https://hms.harvard.edu/education-admissions/md-program/admissions
https://hms.harvard.edu/education-admissions/md-program/admissions/preparing-apply/prerequisite-courses
It's great that you are interested in a career in the medical field. Orthoplastic surgery is a highly specialized field within medicine that combines bone and joint care with soft-tissue and microsurgical reconstruction to treat complex limb injuries, trauma, and birth defects. You'll need to go to medical school and specialize through residency and fellowships. So, it's a long journey, and each step is competitive. You'll need excellent grades and a high MCAT score as well as medical experience and volunteer hours.
Let's look at the steps:
In order to become a medical doctor, you first need to earn a bachelors degree (4 years) in any field. Next you take the MCAT before you can apply to medical school. Medical school is another 4 years and you'll earn your MD or DO. You then decide on a residency and fellowships where you specialize and ultimately take the board exam for that specialty.
Since you are still in high-school, you should take all the science and math classes you can get (biology, chemistry, physics, math) to be well prepared for college. If your high-school offers classes related to health such as psychology or anatomy, you should take those as well. It's good to take on challenging classes like AP to boost your GPA. You can also consider a dual enrollment program to earn college credits if it is available.
In order to get into a good undergraduate program and later into medical school, you also need to start getting experience in medical settings and volunteering in the community. People get medical experience in a variety of ways. You can look for shadowing opportunities if you want to consider different medical specialties. You can look for internships, volunteer opportunities or small jobs in e.g. hospitals or with doctors (even if it is just as a receptionist). There are also certifications such as CNA, EMT or phlebotomy that would allow you to work medical jobs while you are in school.
You can major in any field for your bachelors degree. Consider your interests, your career goals but also look at your undergraduate degree as a backup plan in case medical school doesn't happen (because life happens). Many students opt for a biology, chemistry or biochemistry major because it would cover most if not all of the science pre-requisites for medical school. Just be aware what the pre-requisites are and that, should you opt for a non-science major, you might need longer to graduate because you might need to take extra classes. Look up medical schools that you would consider and check their admission criteria and pre-requisites so you have the correct information. I left a link for Harvard medical school as an example below.
During your undergraduate studies, you should also get in more medical experience and (if possible) research experience. It doesn't have to be medical research, but being in any science department certainly helps to get involved in meaningful projects.
Before you can apply to medical school, you need to study for and take the MCAT. You can take the test during your junior or senior year. Many students also take a gap year after their bachelors to study for the MCAT and get some more work experience, either clinical or in research. If you opted for a non-science major, a postbac program to complete the science pre-requisites is an option.
If you get admitted to medical school, you'll study general medicine for 4 years. There is no need to know from the start which specialty you want to go for. The first 2 years are mostly classroom learning while the last 2 years are clinical and include rotations through different specialties. You'll then decide on a specialty that you want to pursue and apply for residency in that specialty hoping to "match".
There is no direct "orthoplastic surgery" residency program in the US. Students who want to go into that direction first complete a residency in orthopedic surgery (5 years) or plastic surgery (6 years) and then specialize further through a fellowship that trains them in microsurgery, complex extremity reconstruction, and limb salvage.
You can then obtain board certification through the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) or the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS)
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
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