With over half the country’s population suffering rheumatism and degenerative disorders, the demand for orthopaedists/orthopaedic surgeons is rising
WITH INCREASED LIFE expectancy, lifestyle changes and rising incidence of domestic and workplace accidents, the number of people suffering from osteoporosis, arthritis, bone and joint afflictions is multiplying exponentially. According to a WHO-ILAR (International League of Associations for Rheumatology)-COPCORD (Community Oriented Program for the Control of Rheumatic Diseases) study which surveyed 35,000 people in Jammu, Lucknow, Bhigwan, Pune and Chennai (2007), 12-15 percent of India’s population suffers some form of painful rheumatic ailment and 50-55 percent soft tissue rheumatism (commonly back, knee, neck, shoulder pains) followed by degenerative disorders (osteoarthritis, and spondylitis of knees and spine) in one-third of the population. Unsurprisingly the demand for orthopaedists/orthopaedic surgeons is rising commensurately.
To qualify as a licenced orthopaedics practitioner, aspirants are required to complete the undergrad MBBS programme of any recognised university in India after which they are obliged to write a pan-India entrance exam (PGMET). Some highly-rated medical institutions such as AIIMS, PGIMER, and AFMC-Pune conduct their own postgrad entrance exams.
Postgraduate programmes in this field are Masters in orthopaedics of three years duration, and diploma in orthopaedics (two years). Candidates with an MBBS degree who have registered with the Medical Council of India or state medical councils are qualified to write postgrad exams. In addition there’s the DNB (Diplomate of National Board) orthopaedics, an advanced diploma in superspecialties such as spine, hand, joint replacement surgery, foot and ankle orthopaedics, trauma, sports injuries etc.
The field of orthopaedics offers specialised career options and advancement opportunities are manifold. An orthopaedics practitioner can start working with a public or private hospital, and later practice independently through owned clinics. Other full or part-time choices include teaching in colleges/universities and/or research.
ORTYOPAEDICS SPECIALISTS ARE among the most well rewarded of medical practitioners. Newly-qualified orthopaedics can expect to start with Rs.25,000-30,000 per month and graduate to Rs.15-29 lakh per annum after they acquire five years experience. Those running their own private practices can earn several multiples of these sums.
“There’s a huge 40 percent shortage of orthopaedic practitioners countrywide mainly because of inadequacy of postgrad study capacity in medical colleges and universities,” says Dr. Asadullah Baig, a renowned Mumbai-based orthopaedic surgeon nationally reputed for his expertise in spine and knee surgeries. “Therefore only a few of the huge number of MBBS graduates who would like to specialise in orthopaedics can be accommodated by medical colleges and universities.”
An MBBS graduate of MIMSR Medical College, Aurangabad (1995), Baig began his career as registrar of Mumbai’s Jaslok Hospital where he was highly impressed with the work of Dr. J.C.N. Joshipura, a renowned orthopaedic, and later worked as an assistant of Dr. Nirad Vengsarkar, a nationally famous orthopaedic surgeon. While at Jaslok, Baig acquired the D.Ortho diploma of Bombay University in 1999. Pressing on, he subsequently passed the DNB Ortho of the National Board of Examination, and completed a six-month orthopaedics study programme at the University of Groningen, Holland. After returning from Groningen, Baig set himself up as a private practitioner of orthopaedic medicine and surgery. “My prime interest areas are fracture fixation, hip replacement and spinal surgery,” he says.
According to Dr. Baig, orthopaedic specialists are set to experience exciting professional challenges. “Many new developments are evolving in this field as patients’ demands and expectations have increased with greater awareness. New designs of implants for plates, knees, spine etc are being invented almost daily. Moreover, operation theatres have improved. Better antibiotics, and revolutionary innovations in knee and hip replacement, spinal stabilisation surgery, disc replacement surgery and spine deformity surgery, have made orthopaedics an exciting field of medical sciences,” says Baig.
Indra Gidwani