Orthopedic Surgeon, Clinical Expert (Contract)

Kinetic Systems; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 276,000 - 551,000; Part time

Job summary

Kinetic Systems, Inc. seeks an Orthopedic Surgeon, Clinical Expert for a part-time contract in San Francisco. Work 10–15 hours/week for 1 month with potential extension and compensation of $200–$400 per hour on-site.

You'll guide AI research with your clinical judgment and help curate realistic cases and exam findings. Board-certified orthopedic surgeons with active US licenses, residency in the US, and recent independent practice are preferred.

Qualifications

• MD or DO with an active, unrestricted medical license in any US state.
• Board certified in Orthopedic Surgery (ABOS or AOBOS), or board eligible.
• Completed an accredited orthopedic surgery residency in the US.
• 2+ years of independent, hands-on practice after residency or fellowship.
• Currently practicing, or in clinical practice within the last 3 years.
• Working knowledge of AAOS clinical practice guidelines and appropriate use criteria.
• Excellent written English: you can explain your clinical reasoning precisely and concisely.
• Able to commit 10–15 hours per week for at least 1 month (possible extension).

Responsibilities

• Partner with researchers to show what good care looks like in orthopedic surgery.
• Author clinical cases with realistic patient charts and clinical questions.
• Decide what separates a strong response from a weak or unsafe one.
• Explain clinical reasoning clearly and concisely in documentation.
• Contribute to a robust evaluation of AI outputs and test cases.
• Work independently, meet deadlines, and handle feedback constructively.

Skills

Clinical judgment

English writing

License active

Independent practice

Education

MD or DO

Orthopedic surgery residency

Board certified in Orthopedic Surgery

Job description

Orthopedic Surgeon, Clinical Expert (Contract)

• San Francisco (on-site strongly preferred)
• 10–15 hours/week for 1 month (possible extension)
• $200 - $400/hr

About the role

You will work with an applied AI research lab at the intersection of healthcare and AI. We're looking for board-certified orthopedic surgeons to bring real musculoskeletal and surgical judgment into how AI is tested and improved.

This is a part-time contract role that fits alongside clinical practice. No coding or AI experience is required; we'll teach you the tools. What matters most is your clinical eye: knowing which finding on exam or imaging should change the treatment plan.

What you'll do

Clinical judgment is hard to teach, and that's where you come in. You'll partner with our researchers to show them what good care looks like in your specialty, from the paperwork and handoffs to the decisions that never make it into a textbook.

You'll then put that expertise into practice by authoring clinical cases from the ground up. For each one, you'll assemble a realistic patient chart, pose the clinical question, answer it yourself, and decide what separates a strong response from a weak or unsafe one.

Requirements

- MD or DO with an active, unrestricted medical license in any US state

- Board certified in Orthopedic Surgery (ABOS or AOBOS), or board eligible

- Completed an accredited orthopedic surgery residency in the US

- 2+ years of independent, hands-on practice after residency or fellowship

- Currently practicing, or in clinical practice within the last 3 years

- Working knowledge of AAOS clinical practice guidelines and appropriate use criteria

- Excellent written English: you can explain your clinical reasoning precisely and concisely

- Able to commit 10–15 hours per week for at least 1 month (possible extension)

Preferred qualifications

None of these are required. If you have a few, we especially want to hear from you.

Clinical depth

- Fellowship training in a subspecialty (for example, sports medicine, adult reconstruction, spine, hand and upper extremity, trauma, foot and ankle, or shoulder and elbow)

- Experience across practice environments: academic, private practice, ambulatory surgery centers or hospital employment

- Strong command of orthopedic documentation, coding and payer rules, including prior authorization and surgical appropriateness criteria

Experience evaluating and teaching

- Writing board-style questions, teaching cases or CME material

- Residency faculty or teaching experience

- Utilization review, peer review, quality improvement or independent medical examination work

- Peer reviewing for journals, or clinical research experience

Experience with AI

- Prior work writing rubrics, building test cases or reviewing AI outputs, on any platform

How you work

- You make consistent, well-reasoned judgments across many similar cases, and you can point to the specific evidence behind each one

- You enjoy building the hard case: the atypical presentation, the imaging that doesn't match the exam, the patient who doesn't fit the textbook

- You work independently, hit agreed timelines, and are comfortable giving and receiving direct written feedback

- You care about getting each case right more than producing a lot of them