How to hire an orthopedic assistant

How to hire an orthopedic assistant, step by step

Here's a step-by-step orthopedic assistant hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an orthopedic assistant job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new orthopedic assistant
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the orthopedic assistant you need to hire. Certain orthopedic assistant roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An orthopedic assistant's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, orthopedic assistants from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of orthopedic assistant salaries for various roles:

   Type of Orthopedic Assistant	Description	Hourly rate
   Orthopedic Assistant	Medical assistants complete administrative and clinical tasks in the offices of physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Their duties vary with the location, specialty, and size of the practice.	$16-41
   MD	A Doctor of Medicine or MD is the designation of a person who completed medical education. Generally, MDs focus on the treatment of conditions in need of medication... Show more	$12-107

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Patients
   • Patient Care
   • EMR
   • Injections
   • Traction
   • Splints
   • Surgical Procedures
   • Physical Therapy
   • Crutches
   • MRI
   • Surgery Scheduling
   • Vital Signs
   • Orthopedic Surgeons
   • Physical Examinations

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage patient files by making new charts, keying all encounters through ICD-9 coding procedures and posting in patient database.
   • Perform physical examinations of patients and conduct their medical interviews.
   • Apply and remove casts and splints to fractures.
   • Interpret radiographs, bone scans and MRI's.
   • Sterilize instruments and perform spore testing; ensure OSHA and HIPAA compliance.
   • Cast room technician, apply upper and lower extremity splints and braces to adults and children.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your orthopedic assistant job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. An orthopedic assistant salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, orthopedic assistants' average salary in wyoming is 49% less than in massachusetts.
   • Seniority. Entry-level orthopedic assistants earn 59% less than senior-level orthopedic assistants.
   • Certifications. An orthopedic assistant with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in an orthopedic assistant's salary.

   Average orthopedic assistant salary

   $55,766yearly

   $26.81 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level orthopedic assistant salary

   $35,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 21, 2025

4. Writing an orthopedic assistant job description

   A job description for an orthopedic assistant role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's an orthopedic assistant job description:

   Orthopedic assistant job description example

   Job DescriptionJob description
   
   Provides and/or coordinates the delivery of a variety of patient services under the direction of the registered nurse or physician. Patient services are both clinical and non-clinical in nature and include direct patient care activities such as taking vital signs, performing phlebotomy and business functions such as data entry , filing, assessing charges. Interacts with patients, physicians, and hospital personnel. Must possess strong interpersonal and communication skills. Under direct supervision, the Practice Support Assistant provides support to providers with the clinical departments with primary responsibility for following up on in-basket messages, my chart requests, return mail, processing faxes, patient forms, answering phones, utilizing registries, recalls, reports and scheduling and managing appointments including appropriate follow-up appointments, and conducting follow up or outreach calls on behalf of clinicians. Delivers excellent customer service and strengthens the patient/clinician relationship. The Practice Support Assistant works to improve clinical operations through coordination of contact between team clinicians, patients, the patient service center and others. Assiting the NWH Pediatric Orthopedic, NWH Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Walk-in clinics.
   
   Responsibilities
   
   Provides and/or coordinates the delivery of a variety of patient services under the direction of the registered nurse or physician
   
   Patient services are both clinical and non-clinical in nature and include direct patient care activities such as taking vital signs, performing phlebotomy and business functions such as data entry , filing, assessing charges
   
   Interacts with patients, physicians, and hospital personnel
   
   Must possess strong interpersonal and communication skills
   
   Under direct supervision, the Practice Support Assistant provides support to providers with the clinical departments with primary responsibility for following up on in-basket messages, my chart requests, return mail, processing faxes, patient forms, answering phones, utilizing registries, recalls, reports and scheduling and managing appointments including appropriate follow-up appointments, and conducting follow up or outreach calls on behalf of clinicians
   
   Delivers excellent customer service and strengthens the patient/clinician relationship
   
   The Practice Support Assistant works to improve clinical operations through coordination of contact between team clinicians, patients, the patient service center and others
   
   Qualifications
   Qualifications
   
   High school graduate or equivalent
   
   Demonstrated ability to:Communicate efectively
   
   Problem solve Get along with others, Confront issues appropriately
   
   Must be able to speak and understand oral and written communication in English
   
   CPR training required
   
   Perfect for someone seeking PA school or Med school in future
   
   EEO Statement
   Newton-Wellesley Hospital will provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, veteran or active military status, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Partner's Healthcare is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find orthopedic assistants for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your orthopedic assistant job on Zippia to find and recruit orthopedic assistant candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as healthcarejobsite, health jobs nationwide, hospitalcareers, medreps.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit orthopedic assistants, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new orthopedic assistant

   Once you've found the orthopedic assistant candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new orthopedic assistant. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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