Dr. Brett Andres, orthopedic surgeon, picked Portland over Seattle and San Francisco to join the Orthopedic & Fracture Clinic (OFC) and help counter the shortage of orthopedic physicians in the area. Andres was trained at the distinguished Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, the site of the ABC News’ six-part series Hopkins 24/7 . “I was a resident in orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital when they filmed the original Hopkins 24/7,” eight years ago he says. “I knew a few of the doctors who they filmed, but you didn’t seem to notice the camera crews and went about your work.”

While at Johns Hopkins, Andres worked and conducted academic research with some of the founders and major innovators in the field of orthopedic joint replacement surgery. He says that orthopedic outcomes research is “essential in determining the best possible and most proven treatment options” for patients and remains active in research in this field.

Andres was working at Ehrling Bequist Hospital on the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska before moving to Sydney, Australia, for additional sports medicine and shoulder surgery training. During his time as an Air Force orthopedic surgeon, he went to Iraq and his tour “was truly an eye-opening experience.” In a battlefield hospital operating room on the Baghdad airport runway, he had to treat life and limb threatening injuries from devasting mortar, rocket and roadside bombings. Andres says that “what made it more challenging was trying to treat these injuries with limited resources in the austere conditions of a field hospital. After that kind of experience, you really feel like you can tackle any orthopedic injury.”

Before arriving in Portland, Andres spent the last year specializing in the latest shoulder and knee surgical techniques during a yearlong sports medicine and shoulder fellowship at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He experienced a good model of communication and integrated approach to treating patients with orthopedic problems. “One difference I have noted in Australia is that there tends to be a more intimate relationship between the orthopedic surgeon, physical therapist and athletic trainer. I am certain we will expand the similar model that exists at the OFC where all the professionals involved with the patient, communicate freely to provide optimal care from the time of injury to the time of return-to- sports.”

With such a diverse range of expertise and hard-to-find experience, Andres had many choices on were to settle his family of five following his military service. He chose Portland over Seattle, San Francisco and Denver because he is an avid athlete and outdoorsman, and because Portland was the “best fit for my family from a personal and professional standpoint.” When evaluating other cities, Andres felt that “the medical and orthopedic community is as sophisticated in Portland as any large city in the country,” but the “easy access to hiking, biking, skiing, climbing, and the coast is hard to beat.”