We are excited to welcome our incoming orthopaedic residents. They are exceptional applicants with backgrounds and interests that will enrich our program. We are proud to have them on our team and look forward to training with them to be the best orthopaedic surgeons and future leaders in our field.    Congratulations to:

Welcome to the new Chair's Corner! As you requested in our recent survey, I will share departmental updates and videos each week in this column.

Patient Safety Awareness Week, promoted by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, aims to encourage everyone to learn more about healthcare safety.  

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day   The Duke Centennial celebration began on Dec. 9. The Centennial celebration will focus on where we were going.  We can use our department's strategic plan to focus on this, and we will be speaking more about this in the coming weeks.   Article receiving press: Development of a low back pain care pathway in an academic hospital system: results of a consensus process: Christine Goertz and Michael Guo

Today, we commemorate the life and legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King was an exemplar of courageous, nonviolent activism. In addition to his speaking out against violent acts of racism, he also spoke out about quiet, less overt forms of racism. Overt or otherwise, all forms have links to poverty, health disparities, higher rates of incarceration, and other societal injustices that disproportionately impact marginalized communities. 

Happy New Year! Dr. Alman discussed evidence-based New Year’s resolutions: The AMA has such advice based on resolutions that are more likely to be successful, and these include: (1) Make time for self-care, (2) set smart goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time based), (3)  focus on what you can control, (4) find ways to remain connected, and (5) make small changes.

Shyni Varghese, PhD, Laszlo Ormandy Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, will be the new vice chair of research in Duke's Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

I am thrilled to announce the Duke Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) Program received notice this week that it has received full accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

Congratulations to Brett Rocos, MD! He received the 2024 Luiz Vialle AO Spine Knowledge Forum Award.   The Duke Hybrid Ortho PT Program is a unique program that combines the health system and our department in a training program, part online and part in person.  This model could be extended more broadly, and I am proud of this pioneering program.

The holidays are approaching – many things can be considered during this time, including building community,  which was also identified from the department’s Culture Pulse survey results.   Many studies show the importance of community to overall well-being, and some of these conclusions were shared. These offer optimal sizes for a community for different purposes, and our department and divisions are ideal sizes for various facets of a community.