Robert C. Schenck Jr, MD
Chairman, Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation
Professor
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM
Dr. Robert “Bob” Schenck Jr. is a Professor at The University of New Mexico (UNM), and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation. In 1990, he began his career as a full-time academic physician at the University of Texas in San Antonio, where he taught and practiced Orthopaedic Sports Medicine for ten years. His love of the West, sports medicine, and orthopaedics matured when he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to work at UNM. In 2006, he was selected as Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, a position that he still holds today. Serving at both the School of Medicine and Athletic Department caring for Division I UNM Lobo athletes, Dr. Schenck has been asked to step into various leadership positions. In 2009, he led the building of an award-winning academic community hospital, adjacent to which recent construction began on the UNM Orthopaedic Center of Excellence. Bob was also asked to assist the University during the COVID-19 crisis supporting clinical leadership as interim Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor of Clinical Affairs. Although already serving as Chair and engaged clinician for shoulder and complex knee injuries, Dr. Schenck continues to serve in the additional leadership roles.
Bob was born in Texas and grew up in the Roaring Fork Valley in Carbondale, Colorado, later attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. Having great experiences with football and athletics, he knew he wanted to become a physician and hopefully, one day take care of athletes. His parents recall Bob announcing, at 17-years-old, that he was either going to become a United States Senator or an orthopaedic surgeon. In some ways, his leadership in orthopaedics was fashioned by his early interest in public service. After his sophomore year at the University of Colorado, Dr. Schenck moved to Baltimore, Maryland, to start the combined BA/MD program at John Hopkins University. He remained there throughout medical school and his orthopaedic residency. Bob underwent sports medicine fellowship training with Dr. Frank Noyes in Cincinnati and later in foot and ankle training with Dr. Mike Coughlin in Boise. His upbringing in the rural West, combined with his decade-long educational journey in the East, gave Dr. Schenck a wonderful foundation in life, broad exposure to the lifestyles of the USA, and an unforgettable medical training experience.
As a team physician at the UNM Athletic Department, Dr. Schenck is grateful for his membership in The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM). Dr. Schenck believes that the AOSSM has always represented excellence in care, research, and professionalism in the field of sports medicine. Bob considers his AOSSM membership as his most enjoyable, along with the experiences and friendships gained over the past 30 years. In 1991, he was selected as a traveling fellow, in which he toured the Western Pacific with his SLARD Godfather, Bernie Cahill. Dr. Schenck, along with his colleague and friend, Dr. Daniel C. Wascher, began giving back globally to host visitors’ tours from SLARD, ESSKA, and APKASS to AOSSM sites. Bob is grateful to Dr. Ned Amendola who selected Dr. Schenck as a Godfather to SLARD, and is most grateful for that experience traveling with fellows Dain Allred, Seth Sherman, and Marc Tompkins in South America in 2017. Dr. Wascher and Dr. Schenck are both grateful recipients of the benefit of a global sports-medicine educational and cultural sharing. With our global environment made closer with ZOOM, UNM has collaborated with many hosted fellows through publications and research. Dr. Schenck is grateful for all the patients he cared for, from high school and collegiate athletes at the University of Texas, San Antonio (1990-2000) and at UNM (2000-present). He is forever grateful to his sports colleagues and certified athletic trainers in caring for athletes.
Bob enjoys research, writing, and contributing to the academic sports-medicine community. One fascinating experience began with a publication in the American Journal of Knee Surgery in 1994, “A Baker’s Dozen of Knee Dislocations,” which triggered a long process of a paradigm shift in classifying knee dislocations. He has enjoyed managing the bicruciate knee and publishing extensively on the topic. In addition to receiving recognition as a JBJS Elite Reviewer twice, Dr. Schenck has enjoyed his participation on the AJSM Editorial Board since 2002. Approximately a decade ago, he began writing non-fiction and fiction and has won several awards. He now serves as editor for the UNM Arts Journal “The Medical Muse.” His published novella, “Juarez,” can be found on Kindle. He has a respect and understanding of the importance of scholarly activity and research at universities globally.
He met his spouse, Patricia (“Trish”) while in Baltimore, and they were married in 1986. Their experience together in an academic practice gave him a partner, a source of endless support, and a model for resiliency. Trish made the last fourteen years as chair an especially great honor for him. They recently celebrated their 34th year of marriage while maintaining a close relationship with their five children: Lillian, Gus, Helen, George, and Marian, ages 27 to 32. In his 14 years as the Chair of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation at UNM, Dr. Schenck strongly believes in the importance of professionalism. His creed as Chair of the Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation is “POISE”: Professionalism, Outcomes, and Integrity for Sustainable Excellence. Dr. Schenck has made a focused approach to maintain life balance and harmony of faculty, residents, and APP’s within his department. He is especially proud of creating a diverse faculty, and was recently nominated for the inaugural “He For She” Award offered by the Ruth Jackson Society and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, with >25% women residents and faculty at UNM Orthopaedics. His work as chair has transitioned to include a focus on sharing opportunities with others to create a platform for future leaders. His focus of leadership is active-listening, collaboration, and fairness while recognizing that flexibility is tantamount for adaption so that he, his Department, and the profession may remain meaningful, successful, and prosperous in the global environment of Orthopaedic Surgery.
Selected Published Work
Walker DN, Hardison R, Schenck RC: A Baker’s Dozen of Knee Dislocations. American Journal of Knee Surgery 1994; 7(3):117-124.
Richter DR, Held M, Campos, T, Wascher DC, Schenck RC: Considerations in the Management of Knee Dislocations in the Limited Resource Setting (KD-LRS), JBJS Forum, in press.
Hankins DA, Fletcher IE, Prieto F, Ockuly AC, Myers OB, Treme GP, Veitch A, Wascher DC, Schenck RC, Richter DL: Critical Evaluation of the Methodologic Quality of the Top 50 Cited Articles Relating to Knee Dislocation and Multiligamentous Knee Injury. Orthop J Sports Med. 2019.
Richter DL, Bankhead C, Wascher DC, Treme GP, Veitch A, Schenck RC: KDIV Injuries of the Knee: Presentation, Treatment, and Outcomes. Clinics in Sports Medicine. 2019;38(2):247-260.
Richter DL, Wascher DC, Schenck RC Jr: A Novel Posteromedial Approach for Tibial Inlay PCL Reconstruction in KDIIIM Injury Patterns: Avoiding Prone Patient Positioning. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 2014 472 (9): 2680-90.
Schenck RC, Richter DL, Wascher DC: Knee Dislocations: Lessons Learned From 20-Year Follow-Up. Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. 2014;2(5):1-10. doi:10.1177/2325967114534387.
Mercer D, Firoozbakhsh K, Prevost M, Mulkey P, DeCoster T, Schenck R: Stiffness of Knee-Spanning External Fixation Systems for Traumatic Knee Dislocations: A Biomechanical Study. Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma 2010 November; 24(11): 693-696.
Schenck RC, Kovach IS, Agarwal A, Brummett R, Ward RA, Lanctot D, Athanasiou KA: Cruciate Injury Patterns in Knee Hyperextension: A Cadaveric Model. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery 1999 Jul-Aug; 15(5): 489-495.
Schenck RC Jr, Athanasiou KA, Constantinides G, Gomez E: A Biomechanical Analysis of Articular Cartilage of the Human Elbow and a Potential Relationship to Osteochondritis Dissecans. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research 1994 Feb; 299:305-312. (stiffness mismatch vis a vis elbow OCD).
Athanasiou K, Korvick D, Schenck, R Jr, Biodegradable Implants for the Treatment of Osteochondral Defects in a Goat Model. Tissue Engineering 1997; 3(4):363-373. (Study creating OBI Tru-fit Plug).
Schenck RC Jr, Blaschak MJ, Lance ED, Turturro TC, Holmes CF: A Prospective Outcome Study of Rehabilitation Programs and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery 1997 Jun; 13(3): 285-290. (first randomized outcomes trial for ACL’s using SF-36).
Muscat JO, Rogers W, Cruz AB, Schenck RC Jr: Arterial Injuries in Orthopaedics: The Posteromedial Approach for Vascular Control About the Knee. Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma 1996; 10(7):476-480.
Walker DN, Rogers W, Schenck RC Jr: Immediate Vascular and Ligamentous Repair in a Closed Knee Dislocation: A Case Report. Journal of Trauma 1994 Jun; 36(6):898-900.
Schenck, RC Jr., Robert: The Magic Christian, UNM Medical Muse, Fall 2011, Vol 16, No 1, pp 6-8,http://hsc.unm.edu/medmuse. (1st place Southwest Writers Award).
Schenck, Jr., Robert C.: The Ghost of Chris Ledoux, UNM Medical Muse, Fall 2012, Vol 16. No. 1, pp 6-8, http://hsc.unm.edu/medmuse. (3rd Place Southwest Writers Award).
Schenck Jr, Robert: The Dust of Auschwitz , UNM Medical Muse, Spring 2014, Vol 19. No 1, pp 4-10, http://hsc.unm.edu/medmuse. (Selected for Best of Muse).
Schenck RC Jr., Juárez: A Shandy Randall Novella, Kindle/Amazon; 2018. Pp 102 19.
Schenck RC Jr, UNM Department of Orthopaedics. (October 18, Issue 1). Remarks and POISE from the Chair. OrthoTimes.
Miguel A. Khoury, MD
Sports Traumatology Specialist
Hudson, Argentina
I was born in the province of La Pampa, Argentina in a small town with 5.000 inhabitants named Realicó (a native name meaning “water plate”). My mother and one of my sisters still lives there.
My father was a rural physician who used to take care of every health problem in the town. He always mentioned to me that he would have liked to be an orthopaedic surgeon but residencies were not available at that time and he needed to get in practice quickly. He used to take care of fractures, delivering newborns and appendicectomies without an anesthesiologist assisting him. Ether anesthesia was used. The old Clinic founded by my father is still open with several young physicians running it.
My passion for sports and particularly tennis led me to get involved with sports injuries: that was my reason to enter a residency in orthopedics.
There was a prominent cardiovascular surgeon in Argentina named René Favaloro, who, after working as a rural physician close to my birthplace, moved to the U.S. to work at Cleveland Clinic, where he developed the heart surgery bypass. After a few coincidences and a basic science fellowship at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Favaloro recommended me to enter the Cleveland Clinic fellowship program under Dr. John Bergfeld’s direction. After returning to Argentina, I got married to Andrea and we live now close to Buenos Aires City where I have my practice. We have two boys: Ezequiel, 19 years old (Engineering student) and Joaquín 17 years old (last year high-school student). Initially I was involved with a first division soccer team named Racing Club but, from all my medical activities, the most rewarding one is to take care of the Argentine Davis Cup Team. Consequently, I am able to be in an international tennis competition, not as a player, as I would have liked, but as a team physician.
Selected Published Work
Khoury M, Rolon A, Levi L: Tratamiento de la tendinopatía lateral de codo con células derivadas de tejido adiposo. rev Asoc Arg de traum deport. 7:345-356, 2020.
Santacoloma E, Godoy M, Khoury M: inestabilidad multidireccional en deportistas lanzadores: revisión sistemática. Rev asoc arg de traum deport. 10: 231-238, 2019.
Khoury M, Rolón A, Santa Coloma e: el rol de las terapias biologicas en la reparación meniscal. Rev asoc arg de traum deport. 6: 112-123, 2018.
Khoury M, Santa Coloma E, Rolón A: Soleus muscle strain injuries: Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging study. Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(8):1800.
Santa Coloma E, Santilli O, Rolón A, Khoury M. Endoscopic treatment of sports hernias in the athlete. Am J Sports Med. 2011;39(8):1801.
Khoury MA, Goldberg VM, Stevenson S: The demonstration of HLA and ABH antigens in fresh and frozen human menisci by immunohistochemistry. J Orthop Res. 1994;2:751-757.
Greenfield EM, Horowitz MC, Khoury MA: The role of interleukin-6 production and c-amp signaling in stimulation of bone resorption by parathyroid hormone. Trans Orthop Res Soc. 1993;18:170.
Khoury M, Goldberg VM, Stevennson S: Fresh and frozen human menisci express HLA-ABC and HLA-DR antigens. Trans Orthop Res Soc. 1993;18:357.
Muscolo L, Ayerza M, Khoury M: Immune response to GCT mass cell in vitro. Orthop Trans. 1992.
American Journal of Sports Medicine Editorial Board Spotlight 