Martin M Pomphrey Jr, MD, FAAOS
Former Orthopaedic Surgeon
Starkville Sports Medicine and Orthopedics
Starkville, Mississippi
Member Since: 1982

As an Emeritus Member, which AAOS resources do you use most and why?
As an Emeritus Member, I look forward to the weekly emails announcing AAOS webinars. They offer an opportunity to learn about new developments in orthopedics and to ”keep up” from afar. When Annual Meetings are held in the Midwest I try to attend.

If you were mentoring a new member, what important advice would you give them as they progress in their career?
Two things.  All people deserve your respect, including patients, nurses, aides, janitors, and other healthcare providers.  Spend time listening and communicating with your patients.  They came to see YOU. See them, hear them, treat them.

What aspect of retirement surprised you the most?
I found that closing my practice was extremely depressing for me.  Suddenly I felt that I had lost my identity and had no structure to my life.  It took time and effort to recover from that loss and to restore structure.  Working locum tenens for a few years helped.

What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time?
I have been blessed with an abundance of hobbies.  I travel to photography workshops, love vegetable and flower gardening, and built a workshop for repairs and woodworking projects when the spirit moves me.  That said, the days are not long enough to do it all.  It takes me longer and longer to do less and less as the years go by.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself that not many people know?
As a young USPHS officer stationed in Alaska, I took up commercial salmon fishing when off duty.  I celebrated my 50th birthday by driving a dog sled team from Bettles, Alaska to Gates of the Arctic National Park and back in 6 days.  For 8 years I coached The Saints, a select grade school girls basketball team.  We played about 75 games a year.  And at age 45 I took a year off from practice for a Sports Medicine fellowship at UAB.