Orthopedics

Pearls and pitfalls for medical students entering their clinical years

Education
July 9, 2020

Transitioning from the classroom to the wards is an uncertain and anxiety-provoking time for many medical students. Schedules are constantly changing, as are expectations and learning objectives. Mentorship and advice from upperclassmen, residents, and attendings was an essential tool in my MS3 toolbox. I would go so far as to say that these pieces of insight are the toolbox. The 2020-2021 academic year will provide its own degree of obstacles …

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6 tips for success in residency training

Physician
July 8, 2020

Recently, a few colleagues and I sat down with our six incoming interns during a welcoming round-table discussion.  Being the closest member of the faculty to these residents in age and time from residency, I was best able to relate to them and their current feelings.

I, too, sat in those chairs in a conference room that was last used for graduating our outgoing chief residents.  I, too, remember the feelings …

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Nurses deserve all the respect doctors and patients can muster

Physician
May 30, 2020

Every year, National Nurses Day is celebrated on May 6 to raise awareness of the role nurses play in society. The date also marks the beginning of National Nurses Week, which begins on May 6 and ends on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday. In addition to the annual celebration, the World Health Organization has smartly declared 2020 the “International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife,” in recognition of their …

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Kudos to the new breed of physicians

Physician
May 11, 2020

I became interested in medicine in my second year of college at Baylor University. I lived in the old Brooks Hall, which was built with large suites and communal bathrooms, and formerly used as military housing. Six of my suite-mates were pre-med and had doctors for either fathers or mothers. They all spoke of the work their respective parents did, and how much enjoyment treating patients brought them, and that …

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Why intangible skills are so important for surgeons

Physician
January 7, 2020

As a fourth-year orthopaedic surgery resident, we had some surgical autonomy.  Always at arm’s length from the attending oversight, this was just enough to push us past our comfort zones.

My problem was I loved my comfort zone.

The single most influential day in my career happened late one evening as a PGY-4.  I was about to start a complex ankle fracture by myself.  The ankle fracture involved the fibula and the …

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An orthopedic surgeon goes to a bar. Here’s what happened next.

Physician
December 19, 2019

I went to a bar last night — and I looked good: red coat, black dress, knee-high suede boots.  I was feeling pretty good.

I met my best friend at this bar — he lives elsewhere now — but this is his favorite spot in the world.  Like Norm in Cheers, he is also their favorite customer.

We ordered dinner, and my best friend stepped away to talk to the bartender.  I …

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A brilliant song about the perils of texting and driving

Video
November 25, 2019

“Words Kill” is a brilliant song about the perils of texting and driving. Spread the message.

Courtesy of The Fever Breakers, a band made up of hospital employees. Their socially conscious songs are crafted in the basement of the hospital using a piano used for cancer patient music therapy and subsequently recorded in a studio.

The physician who became a chronic pain patient in seconds

Physician
August 2, 2019

It took me decades of studying, training, hard work, and sleepless nights to become a doctor. In approximately five years, I became a successful writer, editor, columnist, and a whole array of other titles assigned to that type of work. In under 3 seconds, I became a chronic pain patient for the rest of my life.

Around this time last year, I was taking my two dogs outdoors when they spotted …

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Fasting for Ramadan and being the on-call orthopedic trauma resident

Physician
June 20, 2019

A patient groans in agony lying atop a rigid spine board, carried by paramedics into the ER, his neck in a protective collar. The paramedics shout a summary of the accident. Monitors are attached to the man, flashing and beeping the cadence of vital signs. Nurses and physicians swarm. Gloved hands comb through brown hair for bumps or lacerations. They remove his clothes, feeling for pulses in the neck and …

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The inspiring story of a female orthopaedic surgeon

Physician
June 10, 2019

As a female orthopaedic surgeon, I am often asked how I ended up in this field. Although seeing women in orthopaedic surgery is becoming more common, we are still makeup only 6 percent of the orthopaedic surgeons in the U.S.

I actually had no idea what orthopedic surgery was before medical school. In fact, I started medical school thinking I would be an internist, but it really didn’t take me very …

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The journey from a low GPA to an orthopaedic surgeon

Physician
May 27, 2019

I’m an orthopaedic surgeon, but if you told me I’d be here when I graduated from college, I’d be laughing at you. When I got started in college, I thought I was going to be pre-med and apply to medical school. It was not a well-thought-out decision. I thought that this was what good Chinese-American children do: Grow up to become doctors. It became clear that this goal was parent-driven …

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An orthopedic surgeon’s guide to tennis elbow

Conditions
March 15, 2019

As a sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon, I often see patients with complaints at their elbow. One of the more common diagnoses is tennis elbow, otherwise known as lateral epicondylitis. Surprisingly, most of my patients with this condition don’t even play tennis! Many types of repetitive arm movement can lead to tennis elbow. It all has to do with the tendons in our arms.

Tendons are the structures that hold muscle to …

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An orthopedic surgeon’s bone broth journey

Physician
January 19, 2019

Many cooks traditionally use broth derived from simmered bones of fish, fowl, or four-footed critters to flavor soups and sauces. Recently, bone-broth bars have popped up around the country and serve a non-caffeinated, nutritious alternative to tea or coffee. In some of these health-conscious establishments, the owners claim that these drinks also have filling, cleansing, and detoxing capabilities.

I decided to see if a daily cup of bone broth should be …

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ACL injuries in middle-age athletes

Conditions
October 10, 2018

Over the last 20 years, physical fitness as a means to improve overall health has increased among the over-40 set. This is great, right? Yes, absolutely. Athletes who remain active as they age do a better job than non-athletes in retaining lean muscle mass. They also show improved bone density, bone structure and bone strength. However, what physicians are seeing are injuries related to the increased level of activity.

One area …

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How many bones in the human body? It’s not what you think.

Conditions
August 28, 2018

If somebody asks you how many bones there are in a human body, please do not blurt out, “206.” The correct answer is nuanced. To respond accurately to the query, you have to address five questions. Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Consider first that humans vary from one another in facial features, hair color, height, and shoe size. Unknown to nearly everybody except …

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The human hand: not really that good for anything

Conditions
August 6, 2018

Long ago primitive sharks had ridges running down their sides from gill to tail. Later, muscles grew into the folds, and eventually, the central portion of each ridge receded while the ends enlarged to form fins both fore and aft. All was well.

Then one day several hundred million years ago, a fish was swimming blissfully in a shallow pool. The tide went out …

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Who named our bones? And what were they thinking?

Conditions
July 21, 2018

All of our 200+ bones have names, which facilitates describing them when we cannot actually hold them or point directly at them. It might be easier to remember the names if they were familiar ones like Robert, Sally, and Kevin, but no such luck. Latin was the original language of science, so the bones received Latin names. Some of those were derived …

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How to match into a fellowship

Education
April 27, 2018

Residency training is an opportunity to get a good feeling of the specialty that interested you when thinking about what to pursue in the future. You may think that after applying for premed college, medical school and residency, applying for fellowship would be a piece of cake for you. Let me tell you: applying for fellowship is probably the hardest one among all other applications you went through so far. …

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Learn about Salter-Harris fractures with a Medcomic

Conditions
January 13, 2018

Pediatric physeal fractures have traditionally been described by the five-part Salter-Harris classification system.

Type I fractures occur through the growth plate. These injuries may present with normal radiographs, and the diagnosis is often made clinically when tenderness is palpated over the growth plate.

Type II fractures occur through the growth plate and metaphysis. Type II injuries are the most common physeal fractures.

Type III fractures occur through the …

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