Session 111 Pediatric orthopedic surgery is great for inquisitive doctors who love working with kids. Dr. Philip Ashley joins me to talk about subspecialties and more. Out of training for a few years now, he shares his path as he changed careers mid-college and how he reached out to a mentor which changed his trajectory in life. Are you a premed student? Check out The Premed Years podcast where I feature physicians, medical students, admissions committee members, and more. Everything you need to know about your premed path is right there. If you're already a medical student, check out Board Rounds, where I partnered with BoardVitals, a test prep company. We're breaking down questions to help you with your USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 test preparation. Listen to this podcast episode with the player above, or keep reading for the highlights and takeaway points. [01:45] Interest in Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery Philip went to medical school already wanting to be a pediatric orthopedic surgeon He changed his career track in the middle of college. He initially took engineering and did a summer internship at NASA. At that point, he looked to other options. He broke his finger bone when he was still a child. The person who operated him ended up being his mentor. He contacted him and consulted him about changing careers so he asked if he could shadow him over the holidays. Philip got hooked after that. Philip loved the idea of being able to work with hands and do something in the operating room that made an immediate difference in somebody's life. As a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, he loves being able to develop a relationship with the patient and be an inspiration for them. [Related episode: What Does the Pediatric Residency Match Data Look Like?] [04:15] Traits that Lead to Becoming a Pediatric Orthopedic Doctor First off, one has to enjoy being around kids. Attention to detail is also required because you will be doing something that could impact the rest of their lives. You will be interviewing and examining children who oftentimes are in pain.  Although he also looked into trauma as a subspecialty in orthopedics, he ended up getting into pediatrics. [Related episode: Orthopedic Surgery Match Data Deep Dive] [06:17] Types of Patients and Typical Day Philip gets to be a generalist operating on the spine, hips, feet, and broken forearms. The bread-and-butter is taking care of fractures in kids, the most common is humerus fracture.  You may also be taking care of clubbed foot which involves a lot of casting as well as some procedures down the line. Other common cases include hip dysplasia, herpes, and scoliosis. His typical day would involve two different kinds. Some days, he's in the clinic and some days, he's in the operating room. His clinic starts at 8:30 am. He takes care of any loose ends from the day before. He sees 35-40 patients on any given day. Usually, he has a resident working with him where they both collaborate and discuss cases. Their clinic days typically end at 4:30 pm and dictate clinic notes until they get home before 5 pm. On O.R. days, they get in at around 6:30-7am to check people in the operating room. By 7:30, they start with the operation and handle as many as 3-4 cases or 1-2 big cases. 1 in 10 patients that he sees on a given day ends up in surgery. Some of them may also be follow-ups from prior surgeries. But for new patients, he estimates 1 in 5 of them end up being in surgery. In pediatrics orthopedics, it's a lot more clinic-heavy than adult orthopedics since most kids recover from fractures and can be managed conservatively. [Related episode: 6 Tips For Improving Patient Communication] [11:00] Taking Calls and Work-Life Balance In his practice, Philip has three partners and they share calls in their institutions. They do it one week at a time and take one week every four weeks. Philip says he has great work-life balance. Part of the reason he went into pediatric orthopedics is that most of the pe