Orthopedic Surgeon

On this episode, Cathleen McCabe, MD, and Laura Enyedi, MD, chat with guest Mara Schenker, MD, about her career as an orthopedic surgeon and her role as chief medical information officer at Grady Memorial Hospital.

National Doctors’ Day marks the anniversary of the first use of general anesthesia in surgery by Crawford W. Long, MD, on March 30, 1842. To celebrate, Healio Orthopedics revisits stories that reflect on the impact of orthopedic surgeons.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges for businesses and organizations around the world, the president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons said these unprecedented times can present opportunities for progressing the AAOS member experience, to strive for strategic goals and to grow as an organization.

I recently completed my first multiyear contract as a member of a large multihospital health system with an academic affiliation on Long Island, New York. As I continue to grow and advance in my roles, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on some challenges I have encountered during my 3 years in this transition from orthopedic training to orthopedic practice and to share my thoughts on a few lessons for which no amount of training can prepare you.

COVID-19 — It is all we’ve heard for the past several weeks. First it was a problem in another country. Now it is in our front yard, across the street, all over the hospital and in my elevator. The United States has the largest number of COVID-19 infections in the world and I am living and working in the epicenter. Its impact is evident.

DALLAS — Among 11,535 online reviews of orthopedic surgeons in the Cleveland metropolitan area evaluated in April 2019, the surgeons’ overall average rating was 83.66 using a scale of 0 to 100, in which higher scores represented more positive ratings.

With health care continuously in flux, physicians of all stripes have often wondered how to maintain their income and achieve financial goals while avoiding burnout. Although ancillary revenue streams have decreased and overhead costs have increased over the years, the single most powerful wealth creator in human history has remained constant: Compound interest.

Social determinants of health are environmental factors that can be modified to improve a patient’s ability to manage musculoskeletal disease and intervention. Where a person lives, works and accesses health care can affect outcomes of surgical care. While many environmental factors are quickly glossed over in preoperative assessments, often with the thought that not much can be done to change them, overall outcomes can be affected, thus leading to conclusions that costly interventions are not valuable to patients and overall population health.

DALLAS — Two events held here helped showcase the goals of the new Women in Arthroplasty Committee of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. One of the events, a booth crawl, for which about 71 women in arthroplasty registered, from orthopedic surgeons to nurses, physician assistants and others, was held Friday, Nov. 8.

In its Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule, CMS announced total hip arthroplasty, six spinal surgical procedures and certain anesthesia services will be removed from its inpatient only list.