Returning to Roots
As a new graduate fresh out of fellowship in Chicago, I was looking at multiple locations to practice medicine. My wife and I both grew up in Texas and so naturally we leaned towards returning to our roots and our families. We had a difficult choice between three main cities in Texas.
I can clearly remember the day we visited Central Texas Pediatric Orthopedics in 2011. My wife and I sat and talked to Dr. Shapiro for about 20 minutes and we were sold! His openness, honesty, and genuineness made us feel comfortable and we knew at that point that CTPO was the right place for us.
In August of 2012 (just five months after our daughter’s birth), we moved from Chicago to Austin!
Week One
We rolled into Austin and 100-degree heat in August of 2012. Just one week later, our daughter Ella required urgent brain surgery to revise her ventricular peritoneal shunt.
It was Dr. John Williams (my new partner) whom I frantically called and asked if he could contact Dr. Tim George (Pediatric Neurosurgeon extraordinaire). The next day, Ella had her surgery and we got our intimate tour of the Children’s hospital.
My colleagues and partners were incredible and treated us like family. We are forever indebted for their kindness and caring. I am happy to write that Ella did great, and I think Dr. George added an extra bit of spiciness to my already sassy daughter.
A Perfect Fit
On a professional level, CTPO and Austin was a good fit. As a dual-trained pediatric orthopedic surgeon and hand fellowship-trained surgeon, I was able to participate in caring for children with urgent and emergent trauma conditions as well as grow a pediatric hand practice.
Under Dr. Shapiro’s leadership and the support of the group, I was able to grow and develop the pediatric hand program at Dell Children’s Medical Center. This was not a one-person job. I used the foundation, laid out by some amazing plastic hand surgeons, to grow the pediatric hand program. I am thankful to this day for the collegiality of Drs. Sanjay Sharma and Steve Henry. We continue to collaborate and work together providing the best care to our community in Central Texas.
Turning a New Leaf
After 28 years as managing partners of CTPO, Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Williams decided to transition the management and leadership to the next generation of physicians. I was fortunate enough and honored to carry the torch and continue forward.
To their credit, we had a smooth transition and they remain valuable advisors. And to be clear, none of this could have been possible without our amazing practice administrator, Cindy White!
Vision + Mission
As we transitioned roles, I wanted to share my vision and thoughts with the group and staff. We discussed the difference between Vision and Mission, and we laid out our goals. We outlined a plan to accomplish those goals and set out to achieve them.
My vision going forward is pretty simple: to provide clear and purposeful direction to accomplish our mission. And our mission is to treat every child as we would like our own children to be treated – with honesty, compassion, a commitment to excellence, and respect for their individual needs and goals.
We are a team committed to continuous improvement, learning, and teaching. We are extremely proud of our practice and the people in it who deliver exceptional care each and every day. We provide a wide range of pediatric orthopedic subspecialty care including hand, foot and ankle, spine, hips, sports medicine, congenital and neuromuscular conditions and more.
Our practice is the most comprehensive pediatric orthopedic specialists in Central Texas!
Living in 2020
Who could have predicted how our lives have changed in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic? It’s hard not to let our current environment affect us. But one can adapt and use this to create something positive. For instance,
1. We were able to implement telemedicine into our practice and even with our physical therapists
2. We have streamlined our registration process away from paper and have become almost entirely paperless through our patient portal
3. We now hold our educational conferences virtually and have increased the attendance and content
Looking Towards the Future
I cannot predict the future, but I can state that CTPO will continue to strive for excellence in everything we do. We will remain steadfast in the face of adversity, but not so rigid that we break.
Instead we will bend and adjust to the situation at hand. We will build from the foundation laid out before us and continuously strive to achieve our goals and mission.
I will leave you with one of my favorite stories:
The Bridge Builder
By: Will Allen Dromgoole
An old man walked a long highway,
Came an evening cold and gray
To a chasm, vast and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.
“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim, near,
“You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide.
Why build you this bridge at the evening tide?”
The builder lifted his old gray head:
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.”
Just as I have benefitted from those who came before me, I hope to build the next bridge and continue the legacy started 30 years ago!
CEO & President of Central Texas Pediatric Orthopedics
