I was recently board certified by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgeons (ABOS) after passing the Part II of my exam. The Part I of the exam is taken shortly after residency and involves 275 questions on various topics in orthopedic surgery. After passing this test, an orthopedic surgeon becomes board eligible and may be offered to take Part II of the exam. Part II of the exam is an oral exam and involves 6 months of collections of real life cases. These cases are they reviewed by a committee of orthopedic surgeons. 12 cases are chosen and you must present these cases to a panel of orthopedic surgeons in Chicago. If it sounds grueling, it is. It takes a lot of discipline and time to constantly stay up-to-date on the newest research and make decision that are validated by actual scientific research. We are in an age in medicine when it's no longer acceptable to just do what you think is the right thing to do. We must make decisions based on actual clinical research and findings. Thus, make sure your orthopedic surgeon is board certified.
visit: https://mycertifiedorthopaedicsurgeon.org/ to find out about your surgeon a nd whether he/she is board cerfified.
by the way, I will be taking an additional test next year to become specialty certified in hand surgery. This is the next step and only becomes available once you've become board certified in general orthopedics.
