School of Medicine
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Today, we pause to reflect on the enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are all reminded of the importance and charge of working together to improve the lives of our patients and communities.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'  - MLK Jr

UPMC-PITT Orthopaedic Care is finding new ways to expand care and ease-of-access to our community with our new orthopaedic injury clinic, open weeknights at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, PA. 

The Orthopaedic Walk-In Injury Clinic [WIC] opened this past fall.  Patients can be seen same-day by our staff and the clinic is specifically designed to address acute, non-life-threatening orthopaedic injuries. Common ailments seen in the clinic are things like sports-related injuries, bone, joint or tendon injuries and broken bones.

Click here to read NHM's feature on the new clinic and how it's expanding care options for our community. 

This year’s Arthroscopy Journal Award for Clinical Research Excellence goes to “Magnetic Resonance Arthrogram Outperforms Standard Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2 Weeks After First Shoulder Dislocation for Labral Tear Diagnosis” by Ting Cong, Shaquille Charles, Justin J. Greiner, Andrew Cordle, Carol Andrews, Sophie Darwiche, Rajiv P. Reddy, Matthew Como, Nicholas Drain, Jonathan D. Hughes, Bryson P. Lesniak, and Albert Lin.

Click here to read more about the award.

The BMRC Orthopaedic BioBank has long been a dream of the BMRC Executive Director Dr. Joon Lee and Scientific Director Dr. Nam Vo - however, conversations the two had about the Bank and all the good it could achieve usually ended with the recognition that funding was simply not available.

Chance encounters, a life-changing operation and a remarkable generosity brought the BioBank from dream to reality this past year.

Read more in PittMed today.

Name: Stephen Chen
Year: PGY 5 - Chief
Medical School: Vanderbilt University

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in orthopaedics, and what do you enjoy most about the specialty? 

I broke my clavicle as an undergraduate student and Dr. Lin [Dr. Albert Lin, Vice Chair Education] was involved in my care as one of the sports fellows. When he came back as one of the attendings in our program, he invited me to shadow him. I'm pursuing a fellowship in orthopaedic trauma next year.

2. What’s been the most memorable or rewarding experience during your residency so far? Seeing the new interns start and being able to see the difference and how much measurable progress I have made in the past 5 years is rewarding.

3. How do you see orthopaedics evolving in the future, and what excites you about those changes? More and more, patient-specifics are being accounted for in the treatment of orthopaedic patients. For example, with implant design there are now companies who produce patient-specific implants. These can be used to solve complex problems and allow for surgical solutions that previously may not have existed.

4. What do you like most about being a part of PITT-UPMC Orthopaedic Care? Being given the opportunity to contribute to the group that took care of me.

Name: Alexander Hoffman
Year: PGY 2 -Lab year
Medical School: East Carolina University

1. What inspired you to pursue a career in orthopaedics, and what do you enjoy most about the specialty? 
Orthopaedic surgery always made the most sense to me. I love the biomechanics of the body and our ability to restore this for our patients. Not to mention, our operations are some of the coolest around.

2. What’s been the most memorable or rewarding experience during your residency so far?
Seeing the results of a spine decompression where the patient had immediate pain relief and return of function in his leg when we saw him in PACU. Incredible.

3. How do you see orthopaedics evolving in the future, and what excites you about those changes?
I think the use of robotics within orthopaedics will become more commonplace and its application will continue to improve. I expect that we may be able to use these tools to improve our outcomes and make more satisfied patients.

4. What do you like most about being a part of PITT-UPMC Orthopaedic Care?
The family nature of this program. Everyone is always willing to help out and there is a big "team mindset" at PITT-UPMC. Playing sports growing up, I've always thought that this is the most ideal way to grow and learn, and PITT-UPMC epitomizes this quality.