ROSEMONT, Ill. (April 23, 2021)––The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) announced Thomas W. (Quin) Throckmorton, MD, FAAOS, as the editor-in-chief designee of OrthoInfo.org, the AAOS’ patient education website.
Dr. Throckmorton attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., for his undergraduate education, completed medical school at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, and his orthopaedic surgery residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He completed a fellowship in shoulder and elbow surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and spent a year in practice in Antioch, California, before joining the Campbell Clinic in 2009. Today, his practice encompasses shoulder and elbow surgery. He also previously served as the residency program director at the Campbell Clinic for more than seven years.
OrthoInfo is a leading online resource for orthopaedic information. With more than two million unique monthly visitors per month, OrthoInfo offers patients reliable resources to help them better understand musculoskeletal conditions and make informed decisions about their health. The site features more than 400 articles and videos on bone and joint conditions, treatments, and injury prevention, many of which are also available in Spanish.
“OrthoInfo is a fantastic resource,” Dr. Throckmorton said. “Moving forward, I am excited to look into ways of packaging our information into the formats that are best digested by our younger patients. They communicate almost exclusively through social media platforms. How to make us more accessible to our patients in that world is something I’m really interested in exploring,” Dr. Throckmorton said.
“Dr. Throckmorton brings his vision and experience to OrthoInfo at an exciting time,” said Dr. Stuart J. Fisher, MD, FAAOS whose term as the current OrthoInfo editor-in-chief ended on March 31. “As more people seek and access medical information on their mobile devices than ever before, OrthoInfo has the opportunity to evolve further into digital space and reach a younger generation of doctors and patients with orthopaedic information they can trust. Dr. Throckmorton is uniquely qualified through his background as an Academy leader, surgeon, and editor to carry OrthoInfo into the future.”
AAOS President Daniel K. Guy, MD, FAAOS added that it is important for AAOS to have an authoritative, easy-to-use website, like OrthoInfo, available to patients with musculoskeletal questions as a part of the Academy’s portfolio of publications. “We are fortunate to have Dr. Throckmorton assume the leadership of OrthoInfo as the new editor-in-chief. We anticipate continued success as new innovations enhance the utility of this tremendous patient and public resource.”
Dr. Throckmorton believes that patient education is an integral part of providing the highest quality of musculoskeletal care.
“The more information that [patients] have coming into the office, the better able they are to make an informed decision, and the better able [surgeons] are to have a good relationship with them. By arming them with information on the front end, they can get past that shock factor that they often will get when they are faced with a decision regarding surgery,” Dr. Throckmorton said.
As editor-in-chief of OrthoInfo, Dr. Throckmorton holds a position on the AAOS’ Communications Committee. He previously served on the AAOS Board of Directors (2018 to 2020) and the AAOS Central Instructional Course Committee (2012 to 2017), where he was chairman from 2014 to 2015. He was assistant editor for the AAOS Instructional Course Lectures textbook and also spent one year as copy editor. That experience, along with his work on the Campbell’s Operative Orthopaedics textbooks, gave Dr. Throckmorton valuable experience in publishing.
Outside of work, Dr. Throckmorton enjoys spending time with his family, including his wife, a surgical breast oncologist at Baptist Cancer Center in Memphis, Tenn., and two kids. His hobbies include keeping up with Iowa Hawkeye sports, weight training, traveling, and scuba diving.
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About the AAOS
With more than 39,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world’s largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related musculoskeletal health care issues and it leads the health care discussion on advancing quality.
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