Making the Rounds with orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Selby

For this week’s Making the Rounds, we interviewed Jeffrey B. Selby, MD, Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at UK HealthCare. Dr. Selby, an expert in joint replacement, discussed how he became interested in orthopaedics, how his expert team brings leading-edge care to the people of Kentucky and why he’s proud to work here at UK.

What made you interested in medicine, and specifically orthopaedics?

I've been interested in medicine for a long time but I also was interested in business when I was younger, and the main business I was interested in was construction.

Once I was in medical school, I realized that I could combine those two interests. I like to put things back together, I like to fix things that are broken and really that's what led me into orthopaedic surgery.

How is your team here at UK HealthCare uniquely qualified to serve patients all across Kentucky and beyond?

In orthopaedics, there are several things that set us apart from others. One thing is in orthopaedic trauma with our Level 1 trauma center. We see the most complicated fractures and complicated patients – really difficult patients to care for.

That's something that you get here that you don't get anywhere else. We're also set apart in our sports medicine department or division of Sports Medicine with our fellowship-trained sports medicine physicians. We're able to take care the majority of the high schools around here as well as the majority of colleges.

Of course, more personal to me is our joint replacement – the best in the area as well. We get referrals from all over the state to take care of conflict or placement problems and we also are able to take care of what you might call simple joint replacement problems as well. It also allows us to perfect techniques that are new and on the horizon.

For example, we are involved with robotic assisted joint replacement. We are on the forefront of that.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?

It really is rewarding when I see somebody that wasn't able to walk, to get them to walk again – oftentimes they'll walk without a limp, and it's really exciting to see that.

When I tell people I work at UK, I say it with pride. I know that it allows me to give the best care the patient could possibly get, especially in orthopedic surgery because we have the resources to treat any and every problem here.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with UK HealthCare Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, call 859-323-5533.