Primary Care MD wanting to get out.

I think it would take a miracle as well as several years off of your life with the stress of an orthopedic residency during your 50s. You would be in your mid fifties when you completed, about the time many of us want to retire.

How about something a little faster like a primary care sports medicine fellowship?

as long as you're healthy, and plan on practicing into your 60's, i say go for it.

we have a few attendings in their 70's still going strong--that would give you at least 15 years practice. if you have major debt right now, i'd probably still say go for it, because you'll make more in ortho than you will in primary care, even if you consider you'll be going fairly lean during the 5 years you'll be in residency (money-wise)--when you get out, you'll quickly recover what you would have earned if you were still in primary care.

if your back is at all questionable, or you're not in the best health, then i'd say hold off.

hell, when i was in medical school, we had a guy who started med school at 48 years old, and he went into gen surg, and is doing a fellowship next year (vascular) from what i heard--that puts him at 58 or 59, and just getting ready to start his first practice

LOL. Back pretty good but commutated radial and ulnar fractures left (non dominant) arm. Happened in wreck four years ago, now having chronic pain. Why did I have to wear that dang seatbelt anyway. Better to have hit my skull and be rotting, I say. Maybe I SHOULD be giving out more oxycontin and xanax, but then the boss (and Board) get mad. I had one idiot who hurt his neck in an unhelmeted motorcycle wreck does home construction work ready to fight me b/c I said "Motrin and Neurontin." I sort of see where he was coming from.

PM & R. Even one chick who was "nice" to here superiors, nudge nudge wink wink worked hard became chief resident in IM. THEN "went to ground" and did five years interventional radiology. My second year DO resident when I was an intern fled from a place he hated, then went BACK there to do Gas.

I thought they all were crazy at the time, pissing away good old Medicine.

q about the back - do you think back problems should direct people away from surgical careers?

maybe not hand surgery
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i would be concerned about standing on me feet for long periods of time if i had pre-existing back problems. we could argue for days about the physical nature of orthopedics, with some saying its not that physical, and others disagreeing. the truth is, is that unless you have an awesome PA or resident doing all the holding/retracting/etc., its tough work