An Analysis of Orthopaedic Job Trends in the United States Over the Past 30 years

Orthopaedic surgery residency training requires 5 clinical years; fellowship subspecialty training requires an additional year. Orthopaedic surgery fellowship training has financial implications regarding potential career earnings and opportunity cost. To evaluate the effect of fellowship training on employment, 30 years of orthopaedic job advertisements were analyzed to determine fellowship requirements for academic centers, private practices, urban areas, and rural areas. It was hypothesized that subspecialty training is an important prerequisite for orthopaedic employment.

Job advertisements in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS Am) and Orthopedics were analyzed to determine whether fellowship training versus "generalist" (no subspecialty fellowship) positions were advertised for the years 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014. Jobs were categorized as academic (defined by the requirement to teach medical students, residents, or fellows); private practice; rural (defined as population under 200,000); and urban. "General" orthopaedic surgery job postings were defined as job advertisements that did not require fellowship training.

A total of 4,720 job advertisements were analyzed. From 1984 to 2014, the percentage of advertised jobs requiring fellowship training increased from 5% to 68% (P < 0.05). Conversely, from 1984 to 2014, the percentage of advertised jobs targeting general orthopaedic surgeons decreased from 95% to 32% (P < 0.05). Between 2009 and 2014, advertised jobs requiring fellowship surpassed general orthopaedic surgery jobs.

Over the past 30 years, there was a trend toward fellowship being required as part of the advertised orthopaedic jobs available to graduates of orthopaedic training programs. The reasons for increased orthopaedic training are likely multifactorial, including limited clinical duty hours during orthopaedic residency, advertisement and marketing forces emphasizing super-sub-specialty care in multispecialty orthopaedic groups, and the greater complexity of orthopaedic procedures being performed.