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Orthopedic oncologists specialize in treating benign and malignant tumors in bone or soft tissue through coordinating patient care, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and surgery. They require extensive training, including a bachelor’s degree, medical school, orthopedic surgical residencies, and a two-year orthopedic oncology fellowship, as well as passing medical license and board certification exams.
Orthopedic oncologists specialize in the treatment and diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors in bone or soft tissue. An orthopedic oncologist tries to remove tumors and kill tumor cells that can spread throughout the body. Treatment techniques used by an orthopedic oncologist include coordinating patient care, implementing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and surgery.
There are times when general orthopedic doctors do surgery on bone or soft tissue cancer tumors. However, what typically happens is that an orthopedic oncologist is consulted because of their specialist experience. An orthopedic oncologist has the expertise to determine whether surgery should be done to remove the cancer and whether reconstructive surgery should be done to save a limb.
An orthopedic oncologist usually treats a variety of conditions, including benign bone tumors such as chondromyxoid fibroma, chondroblastoma, or osteoid osteoma. Other conditions it can treat include osteochondromas, unicameral bone cysts, fibrous dysplasia, and metaphyseal fibrous defects. The malignant bone tumors he treats include chondrosarcoma, osteosarcoma, and Ewing’s sarcoma. In addition, orthopedic oncologists treat soft tissue sarcomas such as liposarcoma, synovial cell sarcoma, and malignant fibrous histiocytoma.
Compared to other medical specialties, there are very few orthopedic oncologists. Training is hard. Individuals who want to become orthopedic oncologists need to complete a bachelor’s degree and medical school. They are then required to complete orthopedic surgical residencies that involve multiple supervised training experiences combined with coursework.
When the residency is completed, individuals are able to diagnose and treat a wide variety of trauma or bone injuries. Upon completion of the residency, it is necessary to complete a typically intense two-year orthopedic oncology fellowship. During the fellowship, participants receive in-depth training in radiotherapy, soft tissue pathology, bone tumor pathology, and oncology. They also hone their skills in using equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-rays to diagnose bone cancer. In addition, they often undertake a clinical research project during their fellowship.
In addition to residency and fellowship training, interns must successfully pass the medical license exam at any location they plan to practice medicine. They must also pass additional exams to become board certified so they can practice as orthopedic oncologists. Additionally, during the course of their career, they must regularly attend continuing education courses in order to maintain their license.
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