Is there such thing as a Prosthetic Surgeon?

Bigredmed
Mon, 16 Oct 2006 13:39:23 +0000

Prosthetic surgeon…not specifically.

The closest thing I can find on the AAMC Careers in Medicine page (which you have to be in med school to access) is Physical and Rehabilitative Medicine. Physiatrists will have expertise limb prostheses most likely.

Depending on how broadly you want to define prosthesis, many surgical specialties deal with prosthesis placement. ENT’s put in cochlear implants and various types of auditory nerve stimulators. Orthopedic surgeons replace joints all the time. Reconstructive plastic surgeons use forms and tissue to recover form and function. I’m guessing though that you’re thinking of prosthesis in terms of legs, arms and hands. Most of those devices are not surgically attached, though I’m sure they’re headed that way.

The surgical specialty (at least in my mind) most likely to deal with prosthetic devices is Orthopedic surgery. You could then specialize in foot/ankle or hand surgery and likely be very specialized to doing those types of surgeries.

If you are really interested in prosthetics consider majoring in biomedical mechanics/engineering in undergrad. That’s a path to working and designing prosthetic devices that doesnt’ require medical school. If you are sure that you want to be a physician, then don’t worry too much about what specialty you want because you’re a long ways off from having to make that decison (almost a decade if you are still in HS). Many medical students change their minds multiple times when it comes to deciding what type of residency they are going to go into. Keep your options open, and put first things first - get into medical school then worry about specialty.