Jeffrey G. Stepan, MD, MSc

My name is Jeffrey Stepan. I'm part of the orthopedic surgery department. I'm one of the orthopedic hand and upper extremity surgeons here at the University of Chicago. As one of the hand surgeons, what I love about it is I'm able to treat a variety of different diseases and illnesses of the upper extremity from trauma to brachial plexus, reconstruction and nerve surgery, to limb salvage. All the way down to simple hand conditions such as carpal tunnel, fractures of the hand and wrist, as well as arthritis and tendonitis.

I know the physician office can be a very scary and intimidating place for a lot of patients, and so no matter how many patients I'm seeing in a day or how many surgeries I'm doing, I think it's important for me to step back a little bit and really put myself in the patient's shoes and understand that this might be their first surgery or this might be their first time seeing a surgeon. And making sure that the patient feels comfortable, and then that way I'm able to discuss and find out what their hobbies, activities, and goals for getting back to where they want to be. And with that, I'm able to form with the team-- the hand therapists, the nurses, the physical therapists-- the best management options, whether that be surgery or not for the patient.

During medical school, we rotate through all sorts of different specialties of medicine, and what really stuck out to me in orthopedic surgery, as well as hand surgery, is the ability to make a quick difference in patients' lives. Whether that's getting them back to doing sports such as golf, or tennis, or any job-specific hobbies, all the way down to just performing simple activities of daily living that they weren't able to do before. And that gratification and satisfaction of helping the patient get to where they want to be and reach those goals is why I chose orthopedics and hand surgery in specific.