If your primary care physician, or even a friend, has recommended that you look for orthopedic doctors in your area, you may be left wondering what this specialty is all about. Here is an overview of the field.

If your primary care physician, or even a friend, has recommended that you look for orthopedic doctors in your area, you may be left wondering what this specialty is all about. For those who are suffering from back pain, nagging injuries due to sports, arthritis in the joints, or other problems with the musculoskeletal system, these are often the doctors called upon to act. It's hard to overstate how important this medical specialty is to the wellbeing of the country as a whole. Almost $300 billion in health care costs each year are contributed to these problems, and a surgeon in this field usually won't have to worry about having too few patients.

-What They Are

Orthopedic doctors are devoted to the specialty of diagnosing and treating injuries, conditions, and illnesses that affect the musculoskeletal system. This makes for a wide field, including issues that affect the joints, the muscles, and the bones. Of course, most physicians in the field limit themselves to a narrower specialization. For instance, they may choose to concentrate on one area of the body, such as the knees. The same is true for many surgeons in the field, although there are some who practice on many different parts of the body.

-Education

Education and training for orthopedic doctors is extensive, to say the least. A college degree is required, which takes four years on average. This is then followed by an additional four years of medical school. After that, the individual aspiring to join the field will take on another five-year residency, which is a sort of on-the-job training for physicians. Many in the field will then move on to another full year of training if they choose to specialize in one particular area of the body. Fourteen years of education and training may seem excessive, but when you consider the breadth of knowledge and expertise these physicians must have under their belt, it is necessary.

-Patients

The breadth of injuries and conditions orthopedic doctors treat is too extensive to list. As for their patients, physicians in the field can be called upon to treat individuals across the spectrum. While some may specialize in dealing with patients of a certain age, many will take any patient with an issue that falls within their field. This could include anyone from a newborn baby to a senior citizen. Their conditions could range from arthritis, to bone disorders, to tendon injuries. If you are in the hunt for a doctor, then it will be in your interest to find someone with experience treating your particular problem.

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