We sat down with Dr. Vishwas Talkwalkar, a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon at Kentucky Children’s Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children Medical Center – Lexington, for our latest Making the Rounds interview. Dr. Talwalkar is a native Kentuckian and grew up right here in Lexington. Today, he specializes in treating a variety of orthopaedic concerns in kids of all ages.
When did you know you wanted to be a doctor?
I became interested in medicine at a pretty young age. Based on some of the things that my parents tell me, they thought I was going to be a doctor starting when I was in fourth or fifth grade.
My initial long-term plan was to play professional football and then come back and go into medicine. But that didn’t work out, so I ended up going straight into medicine.
What conditions do you treat?
I like to say that the patients I take care of come in all sizes and in all shapes. We see infants within the first few hours of life all the way up to patients who are 21 and older who have orthopaedic conditions that require our care as adults.
We take care of problems like hip dysplasia and spinal deformities of all different kinds. We also see children with cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular conditions, children with developmental diseases like Legg-Calve-Perthes disease or Blount’s disease, and children with bow legs and knock knees.
That’s part of the beauty of pediatric orthopaedics: We get to take care of such a broad variety of patients.
Why do you enjoy treating kids?
I like to take care of children because they’re so resilient and they’re so much fun. Every day, they seem to have a different funny story, and every day when I come to work, it’s always a little bit different, which makes it fun.
Orthopaedics is great because it allows you to impact patients in ways that you can see the results of what you’ve done. And with kids, you can see the results as they continue to grow up, which is very gratifying.
What does your ideal weekend look like?
My ideal weekend would be in the fall, doing what I call the Kentucky Triple Crown: You get up in the morning and play golf, and then go to Keeneland in the afternoon, and then go to a Kentucky football game at night.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a doctor?
If I wasn’t a physician, I’d probably be a high school biology teacher and football coach.
How would your friends and family describe you?
Probably as pretty easy-going and interested in a lot of things. Pretty passionate about the things I do. And as somebody who’s a good listener.
Watch our video profile with Dr. Talwalkar, where he explains the special connection between UK HealthCare and Shriners and what it means for our patients.
