Burn Specialist Job Description

Burn Specialist Job Profile and Description

Burn Specialists are medical doctors basically trained as a reconstructive surgeon with focus on treatment of patients with extensive 3^rd degree burns.  They are often found in hospitals with dedicated burn wards and are known in the community as specialists in the field.  The treatment is almost always attended as an emergency case and requires delicate handling to ensure that the patients do not contract complications caused by the loss of body fluids and exposure to infections.  Critical care nurses with specialized training handling burn patients assist Burn Specialists.

Burn Specialist Job Duties and Responsibilities

• Administer emergency life sustaining medicine for the patient and stabilize medical condition before proceeding for skin reconstructive treatment in the ICU.
• Provide the antibiotics and high potency pain relievers and sedatives to pacify the patient’s distress.
• Meet with fellow reconstructive surgeons, skin graft experts, immunologists and other medical professionals in strategizing the treatment of patients on a case to case basis to ensure individualized attention and the optimum treatment

• Attend local and foreign seminars, lectures and conferences on emerging trends in reconstructive surgery.
• Discuss with relatives and next of kin on the medical options available for their relative in distress.
• Perform skin graft procedures as permissible

Burn Specialist Job Skills and Specifications

• Must have in-depth knowledge of burn treatment methodologies and adeptness in using high technology treatment appliances.
• Must have excellent interpersonal and people management skills

Burn Specialist Job Education and Qualifications

• A medical degree as a doctor with a valid state license to practice locally is basic to the position but a PhD is an advantage.
• Have passed the certification exams of the American Board of Dermatologists
• Membership in a dermatological or reconstructive surgery association is an advantage

Burn Specialist Job Salary

A Burn Specialist doctor’s annual salary is inline with those of reconstructive plastic surgeons who, according to indeed.com, can earn an average of $57,000.