These days, it's hard to be the "first" at anything, but not for Dr. Shapiro. When he founded CTPO in 1990 right here in Austin, there were no other fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedists in the area. He was the very first to serve our community in this way! Luckily, it was a relatively easy decision. As an Austin native, he was glad to return to his hometown and nearby family for the first time in 10 years.
Austin was a vastly different town when Dr. Jay Shapiro returned in the 90's than it was while he was growing up in the 60's and 70's. He embraced the change and had a goal to create a pediatric orthopedic practice that rivaled the best in the nation and that would see any child who needed pediatric orthopedic care. Austin clearly loved Dr. Shapiro as well, as he worked for two years straight with no vacation, serving Austin's children and families. He brought on Dr. John Williams two years later and took his family on their first vacation in a very long time-- to Disney World of course! Dr. Shapiro was always determined to be on the cutting edge of pediatric orthopedic care and to bring awareness to the importance of children's health. 30 years later that still hasn't changed!
The best part of the job for Dr. Shapiro is without a doubt taking care of the kids, along with the satisfaction in making a difference in their lives. One crazy part of the job is that he's now seeing children whose parents were his patients all those years ago!
Another fun part of working with kids is that they are beautifully, if not painfully, honest. A three year-old girl once told him that he had BAD breath after he'd been drinking coffee all morning and while her mom was mortified, all Dr. Shaprio could do was laugh and grab a mint! When you work around such positive energy, it's hard for it not to be contagious!
When he's not helping Austin's children, he loves spending time with his three kids and two grandchildren alongside his wife of 38 years who has been by his side through it all! A motto he passed down to his kids and lives by is that generosity is doing something for others that’s not convenient for you, but makes a big difference for them. He consistently models that kind of care with his patients and goes out of his way to help provide the very best care to any child that comes to our practice.
We're forever thankful for Dr. Shapiro because without him, CTPO would have never been possible! He's helped make the last 30 years so wonderful both for our staff and the children and families of Austin and we can't thank him enough.
Read more about Dr. Shapiro and how CTPO got started on the Story of CTPO blog post!
