A Day in the Life of an Orthopedic Surgeon (2023)

Introduction

Curious about what life is like for an orthopedic surgeon? From waking up, to in-clinic visits, come along with Dr. Girling as he takes you through a day in his life.

Dr. Girling:

I really do love what I do. I wake up in the morning, and I start thinking about surgeries, you know, we've done a certain amount of planning, and we've laid out our day, I'm really excited to go in and a patient that I've been working with and the clinic setting that we've been treating, they've finally gotten to the point where we feel like surgery is an effective option, and I love to operate, I really enjoy being in the operating room.

Doing the surgeries, you know, whenever you do thousands and thousands of hips and knees, you really get to know it. And every time I'm fascinated by the differences because every knee and every hip is not exactly the same, there's, there are small things that we do that affect the outcomes, that affect the surgeries, and then getting the patient from the pre-op, through the surgery successfully, making sure that we have everything exactly how we want it. Getting them upstairs, getting them through the recovery process, I think that's the part of the day that I enjoy the most.

And then everybody in clinic how I'm always running a little bit later than I want to be. And patients always seem to forgive me because I tend to spend time with my patients. I like talking to him. As much as you know, with insurance and the way we have to see patients nowadays, we're supposed to be in there and be robots and just, you know, bring them in and kick them out. And while I can't sit there and reminisce over the grandkids for too long, because at some point, I've got to let I've got to get to the next room.

Try and understand where patients coming from. Listen to you know what's going on that they weren't expecting, what are they expecting? And most of the time I close out any conversation with what can I do to make things better for you? And something that's simple remind somebody that - "Oh, yeah, that's right, I was gonna ask you about this."

And I think that's part of the process, you know, I really enjoy making a difference in somebody else's life. And then I work as hard as I can to try to get home to be with my own family. Sometimes I'm better about it than others. Luckily, my wife is a saint, and she is very good. She's been with me the whole process, high school, med school, my traumas when I was younger. And I think that makes a difference. She knows what training entails. She's known the whole time exactly what she's in for.

But I think all that's really important because they know that being an orthopedic surgeon is part of who I am. It's not just my job. And I think that's what motivates me is, you know, that's how I identify, it's what I do. It's part of who I am, it's part of, really our entire family as being an orthopedic surgeon. Frequently, my wife gets phone calls before I do about athletes that I need to see and helps facilitate them getting to my coordinator.

And then at the same time, it's amazing how many people you know that you didn't know you operate on family members. And so she's helped close those gaps too. So I think that's kind of what keeps me motivated. I think the most gratifying thing is seeing a patient that shows up with severe limitations. They're not doing well. They're in pain. And they simply want help. And you put that patient through our protocols, we get that patient into the operating room, through the recovery, and they come back and tell me that I gave them their life back.

And it's probably the most common statement I get after I do a hip or knee replacement on somebody is you get a handshake, you get a hug. Frequently there are tears and just telling you that they've been living with this, you know, in silence or in agony for so long. And now they finally are able to, you know, get on the floor with their grandkids, keep up with their family member not makeup excuses for missing vacations. They really get to enjoy life. And I think that's what keeps us doing this.

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Video

I really do love what I do.

I, wake up in the morning and I start thinking about surgeries.

You know.

We've done a certain amount of planning, and we've laid out our day.

I'm really excited to go in and a patient that I've been working with in the clinic setting that we've been treating.

They finally gotten to the point where we feel like surgeries and effective, option., And, I, love, operate., I, really enjoy being in the operating room.

Doing.

The surgeries, you know, whenever you do thousands and thousands of hips and knees, you really get to know, it., And..., Every time, I'm fascinated by the differences.

Because every knee and every hips, not exactly the same.

There's, there's, small things that we do that affect the outcomes.

They affect the surgeries.

And.

Then getting the patient from the pre-op through the surgery, successfully, making sure that we have everything exactly how we want it, getting them upstairs, getting them through the recovery.

Process.

I think that's.

The part of the day that I enjoy the most.

And.

Then everybody in clinic..

I'm, always running a little bit later than I want to be.

And.

Patients always seem to forgive me because I tend to spend time with my patients—I like talking to them.

As much as you know, with insurance.

And the way we have to see patients nowadays, we're supposed to be in there and be robots and just.

You know, bring them in and kick them, out.

And while I can't sit there and reminisce over the grandkids for too long.

Because at some point, I've got to get to the next room, I, try and understand where a patient's coming from., Listen to, you know, what's going on that they weren't expecting.

What are they expecting? And that most of the time I close out any conversation with, "What can I do to make things better for you?" And.

Something that simple remind somebody that..

"Oh, yeah, that's, right.

I was gonna ask you about this.", And, I think that's part of the process.

I, really enjoy making a difference in somebody else's life.

And, then I work as hard as I can to try to get home to be with my own family and sometimes I'm better about it than others.

Luckily.

My wife is a saint, and she is very good.

And she's been with me.

The whole process— High, school, Med, school.

My traumas, when I was younger., And, I think that makes a difference.

She knows what what training entails.

She's known the whole time exactly what she's in for.

But I think all that's really important, because they know that being an orthopedic surgeon is part of who I am.

It's.

Not just my job.

And, I think, that's.

What motivates me is, you know, That's, how I identify.

It's, what I do.

It's part of who I am.

It's part of really our entire family—is being orthopedic surgeon.

Frequently.

My wife gets phone calls before I do about athletes that I need to see and helps facilitate them getting to my coordinator.

And.

Then at the same time, it's, amazing, how many people you know that you didn't know you operated on family members, and so she's helped close those gaps, too.

So, I think that's, kind of what keeps me motivated.

I think the most gratifying thing is seeing a patient that shows up with severe limitations.

They're, not doing well.

They're in pain.

And.

They simply want help.

And you put that patient through our protocols, we get that patient into the operating room, through the recovery.

And.

They come back and tell me that I gave them their life.

Back.

And, it's, probably the most common statement I, get after I do a hip or knee replacement on somebody is.

You know, you get a handshake, You, get a hug.

Frequently, there's, tears., And, just telling you that they've been living with this, in silence, or an agony, for so long.

And.

Now they finally are able to, get on the floor with their grandkids, keep up with their family member, not make up excuses for missing vacations.

They really get to enjoy life.

And I think, that's.

What keeps us doing this.