Photo by Jeff Newton

SPECIALTY:
HAND SURGERY


What made you choose orthopedics and, specifically, hand surgery?
I think everyone in medical school either ends up on a path  of medicine or surgery. I was always drawn to the technical, surgical side of medicine. The more I learned about the intricacies of the hand and hand surgery, the more enthusiastic I became about specializing. I think people really underestimate how amazing the human hand really is. Patients with hand problems quickly learn how pain or loss of dexterity significantly impacts their day-to-day life.

What kind of hand problems are you working with?
That’s one of the reasons I did choose this. It’s such a great
spectrum of patients. I get the opportunity to evaluate pediatric congenital anomalies and geriatric arthritic conditions and everything in between, like trauma and acquired deformities. There’s a nice variety of patients.

What is it like working with such a wide range of ages and conditions?
From an orthopedic standpoint, you’re well trained to work with the problems of both. But it is a different style and approach. Just like you’d imagine, there are young kids that I can get a sense for how they’ll react to me by the way they come into the office. I’ll go into their room without my lab coat on because that might scare them. Older kids, if they need surgery, they’re more worried about the anesthesia and if they’re going to wake up or feel pain. You have to treat them one way and answer their questions and put them at ease. And someone who is an adult or older is more concerned about the post-operative course, the rehab and if they’ll miss work. That’s fun too. I can’t imagine having to do the same thing every day.

Have you encountered any difficulties throughout your career?
The patient care part of what I do is what I anticipated and hoped for. The challenges are more on the administrative side of medicine and the advances that are happening with electronic medical records, insurance plans and that kind of stuff. I don’t think any doctor is prepared for the business side of medicine when they come out of medical school. But we all have to learn and are still learning as we go. We go through a science background, but all of a sudden you run into practice with employees, health benefits, 401(k)s and all that stuff.

If you have time, what do you do for fun?
My wife and I travel when we can. She’s a pediatrician, so our time off together is valuable and rare. Australia is my favorite place. I’ve been there five times.


To learn more about our Top Doctors, visit azmd.gov for M.D.s, azdo.gov for D.O.s., or podiatry.state.az.us for podiatrists.