Areas of Professional Interest

I grew up in Washington and spent a decade on the East Coast for my medical training. I attended medical school at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and trained with the Rothman Institute, which was among the top orthopedic research centers in the country at the time. I then completed a five-year orthopedic surgery residency at the Atrium Musculoskeletal Institute, working with OrthoCarolina surgeons, including two past presidents of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons and pioneers of the anterior hip approach. I pursued further subspecialty training in hip and knee replacements—especially the direct anterior approach to the hip—through a fellowship at the Carilion Clinic at Virginia Tech.

Most of the elective surgeries I perform are hip or knee replacements. While many are standard joint replacements, I also handle complex conversions and revisions as I am the only fellowship-trained joint replacement surgeon in Skagit, Island, San Juan, Whatcom and Okanogan counties. I don’t believe anyone needs a joint replacement—my role is to give you the information you need to decide what’s right for your life. If arthritis is a minor inconvenience, we can try non-operative strategies like medications, activity modifications, injections or ambulatory aids. But if pain is keeping you from doing things you love, that’s when we can have a serious conversation about surgery. Ultimately, the decision is yours—joint replacements are elective, and your recovery depends on your readiness and commitment.

If you do choose surgery with me, I’ll work closely with your care team to ensure you’re in the best possible health going in. Sometimes that means delaying surgery to optimize medical conditions. After surgery, we work closely with physical therapists to help you return to the activities that matter most to you. My favorite part of this job is seeing patients return with photos of the things they can do again after surgery—if you do be prepared to share a copy with me!