Why did you join AAOS?
The immense amount of resources available to members.
How do you define success?
Providing the best care for patients, using research to fill gaps I perceive in my specialty, and being able to perform in a career that I love.
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
Within orthopaedics, Tracy Watson has undeniably had the most influence over my thought process, I still text or talk to him occasionally although I'm six years out of residency. He and I share a love for rural locations and have farms in the west. But more than that, he always did what was right for the patient. His motivation in orthopedics was not the hospital, the insurance companies, or any political leanings - he's brilliant and applies his brilliance to making his patients' lives better.
What do you love most about AAOS?
The educational resources are amazing. To me, this is a society that is out to better our practices, our patient care, and advocate for our physicians. No one else is really doing that.
What advice would you give to new members of AAOS?
Get involved! I haven't done so yet - my first few years of practice have been hectic - but the opportunities to make real changes at political, national, institutional, and even personal levels exist around every corner. Explore these and jump into one of these that speaks to you.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that not many people know?
I played highly competitive racquetball throughout my teenage years, won several national and world titles, and my last year of competition my national team won the United States Olympic Athletes of the month for sweeping every title in every age division we entered.