Will AI replace Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric?
AI reaches some of this job’s work, but most of it stays with people.
23/100
Moderate exposure
More exposed to AI than 39% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 40% of the work
What the job involves
Diagnose and perform surgery to treat and prevent rheumatic and other diseases in the musculoskeletal system.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(6)
- Analyze patient's medical history, medication allergies, physical condition, and examination results to verify operation's necessity and to determine best procedure.
- Conduct research to develop and test surgical techniques that can improve operating procedures and outcomes related to musculoskeletal injuries and diseases.
- Follow established surgical techniques during the operation.
- Order and interpret the results of laboratory tests and diagnostic imaging procedures.
- Prepare case histories.
and 1 more
Out of reach(9)
- Diagnose bodily disorders and orthopedic conditions, and provide treatments, such as medicines and surgeries, in clinics, hospital wards, or operating rooms.
- Diagnose or treat disorders of the musculoskeletal system.
- Direct and coordinate activities of nurses, assistants, specialists, residents, and other medical staff.
- Examine instruments, equipment, and operating room to ensure sterility.
- Examine patient to obtain information on medical condition and surgical risk.
and 4 more
Also called
Orthopedic Surgeon · Orthopaedic Surgeon · General Surgeon · Hand Surgeon · Physician · Surgeon · Doctor · Foot and Ankle Surgeon
Related jobs
- Pediatric Surgeons22/100
- Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric34/100
- Urologists26/100
- Anesthesiologists30/100
- Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons9/100
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics