You’ll immediately be able to spot which physician Dr. Kaufman is when you walk into our office since his penchant for bow-ties gives him away! With more than 20 in his collection (and growing), Dr. Kaufman definitely should be in the running for the Bow-Tie King of Austin. In addition to his fashionable hobby, he’s also a huge movie buff! He’ll go see anything and everything, from a romantic comedy with his wife Shelby to a foreign film or Hollywood action packed adventure film he is there. He always up for a discussion on movies, films or shows so next time you see him, let him know your favorites! What’s his favorite you ask? You may be surprised that his favorite film of all time is "Cool Runnings", a 1990s classic about the 1988 Jamaican Bobsled team!
Even though we don’t have a bobsled team here in Austin, we do have access to a lot of great hiking trails and swimming holes that you are sure to catch Dr. Kaufman at. Don’t be surprised if you run into him at one of the local swimming holes or a park during the summer – especially McKinney Falls or along the Greenbelt! It's one of the things that Dr. Kaufman and his wife love most about Austin – the easy access to the outdoors. When he's not hitting the trails, you'll catch him barbecuing any and every kind of meat, his after-hours favorite hobby! The office loves his passion for BBQ as well since he brings in all his delicious creations in for us to enjoy!
So how did this bowtie loving, BBQ enthusiast outdoorsman get into pediatric orthopedics? Well, he comes from a family that likes to put things together (seriously!). As a child, he tinkered on cars with his father, a mechanical engineer, and had a penchant for putting things back together. As he grew up, he decided that instead of going the route of engineering and mechanics, he wanted to work with people, and that’s how he fell into orthopedics. Why pediatrics specifically? Well, it's probably hard to imagine given his whimsical side and favorite movie, but Dr. Kaufman has a great sense of humor and loves getting kids back to having fun and being kids. After all, having fun is part of the job! His biggest goal is for every patient and parent to feel heard and have the ability to voice their concerns and feel like they're in a collaborative relationship with him, not adversarial. Building trust with not only his patients but their parents as well is one of the most important things he strives for. Dr. Kaufman goes above and beyond to uphold the Golden Rule by trying to treat every parent and child as he would like to be treated and we love him for it!
We're so lucky to have Dr. Kaufman be apart of our CTPO family and we're excited to have him along as we continue towards our next 30 years!