Questions to Ask an Orthopedic Surgeon in an Interview
Questions for a consultation where you are deciding whether to have this surgeon operate on you. The focus is on volume, judgement, and who is accountable afterwards, rather than on the details of recovery.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How many of these operations do you do in a year?
Why ask it
A straightforward opener that people are reluctant to ask. Annual volume is more informative than years qualified, since a surgeon doing a procedure weekly encounters the unusual versions of it. Reluctance to give a number is itself worth noticing.
Is this the operation you do most often, or is it at the edge of your practice?
Why ask it
Most orthopedic surgeons have a focus: hips and knees, shoulders, hands, spine, sports injuries. Being outside their main area is not disqualifying, but it is a reason to ask who in the region does it more often.
What is your training in this specific procedure, and when did you last update it?
Why ask it
Techniques change, and fellowship training in one approach does not automatically transfer to another. Ask about the specific technique proposed for you rather than the specialty in general.
How often do your patients need a second operation on the same problem, and why?
Why ask it
Revision and reoperation rates matter more than success rates, which can be defined generously. Listen for whether they track this at all, since a surgeon who audits their own results will usually be able to describe the pattern of failures.
What does a poor outcome look like for this operation, and how often does it happen?
Why ask it
Failure is rarely total. It is more often ongoing pain, stiffness, an unstable joint, nerve damage, or infection. A surgeon who describes these plainly, with rough frequencies, is giving you the information you actually need to consent.
How did you decide I need surgery rather than continued non-surgical treatment?
Why ask it
You are testing the reasoning, not the conclusion. Good answers reference specific findings, what has already been tried, and how long it was tried for. If injections, therapy, or activity modification were never seriously attempted, ask why they were skipped.
What would have to be different about my case for you to advise against operating?
Why ask it
This is difficult to answer with a script and reveals where the surgeon's threshold sits. Someone who cannot describe a version of your case they would decline may be applying the same plan to everyone who walks in.
If I do nothing for a year, what actually happens?
Why ask it
Ask for the natural history: whether it worsens, plateaus, or sometimes settles, and whether waiting makes the eventual operation harder. This is the comparison against which any surgical benefit should be measured.
Which approach or implant do you plan to use, and why that one for me?
Why ask it
Ask what the alternatives are and what specifically about your anatomy, age, or activity level drives the choice. Answers that come down to what the surgeon is most used to are legitimate but you should know that is the reason.
Will you personally perform the operation, and who else will be operating?
Why ask it
In teaching hospitals a trainee may perform parts of the case under supervision, which is normal and how surgeons are trained. You are entitled to know the arrangement in advance rather than reading it in the operative note.
Who is on the team, and how experienced are they with this procedure?
Why ask it
Outcomes depend on the anesthetist, the assistant, the theatre staff, and the physiotherapy service as well as the surgeon. Ask whether this is a regular team for this operation at this hospital.
Where would this be done, and how does that hospital handle complications?
Why ask it
Ask about intensive care availability, infection rates, and whether the site handles complex cases overnight. A day surgery centre and a tertiary hospital present different situations if something goes wrong at two in the morning.
Who looks after me if there is a problem in the first weeks?
Why ask it
Ask specifically whether you see the surgeon, a colleague on rotation, a nurse practitioner, or your own doctor. The answer determines how quickly a problem gets attention from someone who knows what was done.
If something goes wrong, are you the one who fixes it?
Why ask it
Some surgeons manage their own complications and revisions, others refer them on. Neither answer is automatically wrong, but knowing in advance prevents the situation where nobody feels responsible for a poor result.
How do you decide when a patient is ready to progress, and who makes that call?
Why ask it
This distinguishes surgeons who follow a fixed protocol from those who assess individually, and it tells you whether the physiotherapist can advance you or must wait for the surgeon. Delays here are a common source of frustration.
What do you expect me to be able to do at six months, and what will I not get back?
Why ask it
You want the honest ceiling, not the best case. Ask about the specific activity you care about by name: running, kneeling, lifting a child, playing a sport. Vague optimism at this point predicts disappointment later.
Could you put me in touch with a patient who had a difficult recovery from this?
Why ask it
Practices are usually happy to offer their best outcomes. Asking for a harder case tests candour, and if patient contact is not possible, the way the surgeon describes those cases still tells you a great deal.
What would you want to know if you were seeking a second opinion on this?
Why ask it
A confident surgeon will tell you what to ask and often who to ask. Defensiveness in response to the idea of a second opinion tells you something, particularly for elective procedures where the decision can wait.
How do you and your team communicate with patients between appointments?
Why ask it
Ask about the practical channel: a portal, a nurse line, a direct number, or nothing until the next visit. Also ask about typical response time, since this is the part of care people find most frustrating after they get home.
What will the whole episode cost me, including anesthesia, the hospital, implants, and therapy?
Why ask it
Surgeon fees are frequently the smallest line. Ask which providers involved might bill separately or sit outside your network, how many therapy sessions are expected, and ask for a written estimate you can take to your insurer.
How to run this conversation
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Preparing
Bring your own records, do not assume they arrived
Take imaging on a disc or portal link, a list of what you have already tried and for how long, and the dates. A surgeon assessing whether conservative treatment has been exhausted needs the timeline, and referral letters often omit it.
Write down what you want to be able to do again
Be concrete: sleep on that side, carry a toddler upstairs, return to a specific sport. Surgical decisions differ depending on the goal, and "less pain" is too broad to plan against.
Book a second consultation before you decide
For elective orthopedic surgery, seeing two surgeons is normal and often changes the plan, sometimes to a different procedure and sometimes to none. Arrange it in parallel rather than waiting to feel unsure.
What to listen for
Numbers offered without prompting
Surgeons who audit their own results tend to volunteer volumes, revision rates, and infection rates. Those who deflect to national averages for every question may not track their own outcomes.
Willingness to describe the failure cases
An honest account of a poor outcome, including one of their own, is a better sign than an unbroken record of success. Everyone who operates enough has these cases.
Whether the answer changes when you push
Ask a follow-up on anything that sounded rehearsed. Real clinical reasoning gets more detailed under questioning, while a sales answer tends to repeat itself in different words.
Mistakes people make
Choosing on manner alone
A warm consultation is genuinely valuable, but it is not evidence of technical skill, and a brusque high volume surgeon may serve you better. Weigh both rather than substituting one for the other.
Deciding on the day
Unless you have a fracture, an infection, or a progressive neurological problem, this decision can wait a fortnight. Scheduling pressure for elective work is administrative, not clinical.
Not asking who owns the aftercare
Most dissatisfaction after orthopedic surgery comes from the weeks afterwards rather than the operation. Settle who you call, and how fast they respond, before you consent.
Before you leave the consultation
- The name of the exact procedure, written down as it will appear on the consent form.
- The surgeon's annual volume for it and their reoperation rate.
- Who operates, and at which hospital.
- The contact route for problems in the first six weeks.
- A written cost estimate covering surgeon, anesthesia, facility, implant, and therapy.