Creating a New Kind of Academic Musculoskeletal Institute

By Claude “T.” Moorman, III, MD

In 2018, I became president of Atrium Health's Musculoskeletal Institute – after more than 20 years at another prestigious health system – because I couldn’t pass up the chance to help redefine academic musculoskeletal care at the newly formed institute. Our vision is to enhance education, accelerate research and improve care by breaking down the silos that surround traditional departments.

Today, more than 200 physicians work together under MSK Institute’s umbrella, which encompasses a wide array of disciplines including orthopaedic surgery, sports medicine and spine. Uniting these departments makes it easier for physicians to collaborate on innovative solutions and ensures that patients can access all the specialized care they need.

Here are 4 ways that Atrium Health's Musculoskeletal Institute stands apart:

1. The Southeast’s Best Orthopaedic Trauma Care

MSK Institute is home to the nation’s 4th busiest orthopaedic trauma center and patients travel from across the country to see our team. Our surgeons, including Vice Chair of Quality Joseph Hsu, MD, are world renowned for their limb-lengthening and deformity work, and we provide advanced care for everything from musculoskeletal injuries to severe open fractures to osteomyelitis.

2. Top Orthopaedic Residency Program

Our orthopaedic surgery residency program – ranked 3rd in the Southeast and 19th in the nation by Doximity in 2018 – attracts the most promising young doctors from across the U.S.

These physicians are drawn by the opportunity to get hands-on experience under the renowned faculty at MSK Institute and enhanced by the collaboration with OrthoCarolina and Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates – including Vice Chair of Education and Chair of the Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors (CORD), Joshua Patt, MD, MPH, FAOA. For example, our orthopaedic surgery residents do twice as many surgeries as residents at other top programs.

Training these up-and-coming physicians and surgeons – and answering their challenging questions – pushes us to constantly evaluate our protocols and find ways to make orthopaedic surgery care even better.

3. Research and Innovation Leaders

Providing some of the world’s best musculoskeletal care isn’t good enough – we’re using research to raise the bar and set a new standard for other hospitals to follow. MSK Institute faculty members like Rachel Seymour, PhD, are involved in more than 20 externally funded, prospective research studies, including several investigator-initiated trials. We’re also:

• One of the largest accrual sites for the Major Extremity Trauma and Rehabilitation Consortium, which recently awarded us a $2 million R01 grant, and we received a similar grant from IMPROVE
• Members of the Southeast Fracture Consortium and Orthopaedic Trauma Research Consortium

4. Renowned Subspecialists

We bring together one of the nation’s most comprehensive groups of subspecialists, united by the goal of collaborating to improve care. Our physicians work together to evaluate patients from every angle and develop the best possible treatment plans. We’re home to top specialists including Patrick Connor, MD, and Domagoj Coric, MD, in many key disciplines, including spine, foot and ankle, pediatric orthopaedics, total joint replacement, sports medicine, trauma and post-acute care.

Let’s Work Together

As someone who grew up in North Carolina, one of my goals in joining Atrium Health was to give more people in the Carolinas – and throughout the Southeast – access to world-class musculoskeletal treatment. We’re off to a great start: U.S. News & World Report ranked our orthopaedic surgery program among that nation’s top 50 again this year. We’re excited to keep building on that foundation, and we’re eager to work hand in hand with you to give your patients the best chance to lead healthier, happier lives.

About Dr. Moorman

Claude “T.” Moorman, III, MD, is president of Atrium Health's Musculoskeletal Institute and The Edward N. Hanley, Jr. Endowed Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Moorman was previously executive director of the James R. Urbaniak Sports Sciences Institute at Duke University Medical Center, professor and vice chairman of Duke’s Department of orthopaedic surgery and head team physician for Duke University Athletics. You can reach him at Claude.Moorman@AtriumHealth.org