My First Blog: Orthopedics and the Human Body

You never really notice it, but it’s happening all the time.  Whether you just had a killer workout at the gym or just broke your arm after falling, your body is always working to keep your muscles and bones in tip top shape.  But sometimes the damage is a little too much for the body to handle alone, so it needs some help from a doctor.  When I broke my arm in eighth grade playing basketball, I found it fascinating that it could go from snapped in half to completely healed in a matter of weeks with the help of a simple cast!  I would think that something as hard and as sturdy as a bone would much longer to heal, wouldn’t you?  This is just a testament to the amazing things that the human body is capable of.

            My name is Michael Shaak and I am a biology major at the University of Miami.  I hope to one day go onto medical school and eventually specialize in Orthopedic Surgery.  Some people ask me why I would want to forgo so much of the college experience in order to study so much for pre-med.  Well, the short answer is, I don’t.  Even with all my studies and homework, I still have enough time to rush a social fraternity this semester.  And while it will definitely be very busy and will get super stressful, I still think it’s worth it.  But why pre-med?  To be honest, I don’t think I could see myself doing something like an office job.  Ever since I was in eighth grade I’ve been fascinated by the human body and how it works, and I’ve known that I’ve wanted to be a surgeon.

            On that note, this blog will be focusing on the human body and how it works, more specifically, the musculoskeletal system.  This system is made up of your bones, muscles, and ligaments.  The muscles are what makes you move, the bones keep you from being a blob of jelly on the ground, and the ligaments hold the two together.  As you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts that can easily be damaged or even broken, especially when you’re participating in physical activity.  Some of the most common injuries in sports are things like ACL tears, groin and hamstring strains, and ankle sprains.  All of these injuries require different types of expertise to treat, and that’s where the orthopedic surgeons come in.  Besides specializing in orthopedic surgery, these doctors go even further and specialize in certain areas of the body.  Whether it’s your hand, hip, foot, or knee, these guys and gals will know just the right way to fix you up.

            I hope that you’ll stick with me throughout my research of the human body and orthopedics.  As this blog ages, I plan to improve my writing style and develop better research skills that will help me throughout my future.  Thanks for reading my first post and I’ll see your next time!