In this edition of Making the Rounds, we spoke with Dr. Stephen Duncan, a nationally recognized surgeon at UK Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine.
Dr. Duncan specializes in hip surgery and hip preservation and sees patients of all ages. He’s also an avid cyclist who appreciates the importance of an active lifestyle.
What is your care philosophy when you meet a new patient?
I’m not an operate-first, meet-you-second doctor. I want to get to know you and figure out what’s the best treatment for you. And whether that’s doing medication or physical therapy or surgery, the biggest thing is getting to know you and what’s going to work for you.
What’s your favorite hobby outside of work?
Running and biking. I’ve been biking for 13 years. I used to bike competitively but now with the demands of being employed and having kids, I can’t really do it as much anymore. If I wasn’t a doctor, though, I’d be a bike mechanic.
Tell us about your family.
My wife is a pediatrician here at UK. We have two boys; they’re 5 and 7. The biggest challenge is trying to keep them out of the orthopaedic clinic. The best part of being a parent is that I get to be a kid with them.
What’s your favorite type of music?
Country. I lived in Nashville for eight years and it kind of grows on you there and then it finally just sinks in. You can actually hear the stories behind the music if you listen to it. It helps keep my blood pressure low.
What do you enjoy most about your work at UK HealthCare?
The biggest thing that gives me satisfaction is when I’ve seen that I was able to immediately help a patient in their life. When a patient comes in who has a lot of pain, and depending upon if we needed to operate on them or just do a simple injection, if they come back and give me a hug, I enjoy that.
Check out our video interview with Dr. Duncan below. He tells us more about the types of hip injuries he treats and why he chose orthopaedics as a specialty.
