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Orthopedics' 'bright Future'

An April 21 Medscape report outlined a handful of medical specialties with the "brightest futures," and orthopedics made the list. 

This potential "bright future" is reflected by the fact that 100% of orthopedic surgery residency positions were filled for 2025.

While orthopedic surgery did not top Medscape's list when it comes to specialties that are growing the fastest or have the most job security, they do make the list as top earners and in maintenance of a healthy work-life balance. 

According to the report, orthopedic surgeons have the second-best work-life balance of any physician specialty, finding that 87% are "happy" outside of work. 

In addition, orthopedic surgeons have the highest income potential, frequently topping the list of the highest earners annually. 

Orthopedic surgeons also do not view AI as a threat to their jobs. The report notes concerns of AI replacement among image-based specialities, including radiology, pathology and dermatology.

"Although we are living at the cusp of a revolution in the way that AI impacts all aspects of society (including medicine), orthopedics is more insulated from the immediate disruptive effects than many specialties," Brett Shore, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at DISC Sports & Spine Center in Marina del Rey, Calif., told Becker's. "The continual improvements in large language models like ChatGPT and Claude likely mean that specialties that are primarily knowledge-based (such as radiology, pathology, primary care) will see much of their work done by AI soon, but this is unlikely for surgical specialties in the near future. Orthopedics, in particular, is well-suited to survive the AI revolution, as reconstruction and replacement is skilled work, and even when robots are able to perform large portions of routine surgical procedures, they will still require human surgeon oversight for a while."

While Medscape does not rank orthopedics as one of the fastest-growing specialties, surgeons believe there will be a continued demand for providers. 

"Population growth continues to outpace the increase in the number of orthopedic residency positions, annually," Philip Lim, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at UCI Health in Orange, Calif., told Becker's. "This imbalance should translate into providers remaining busy going into the future even if new orthopedic residency programs/positions are created. Orthopedic issues still account for a substantial percentage of emergency/urgent room visits, and I do not foresee issues related to trauma or degenerative diseases diminishing any time soon."

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