Robert C Parisien, MD

About Robert C Parisien, MD

Primary Focus of Interest: Orthopaedic Trauma, Fracture Surgery, and Shoulder Replacement Surgery

I am an orthopaedic trauma and fracture surgeon and current Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Elliot Hospital, where I treat the full spectrum of adult and pediatric fractures and trauma-related injuries, with a subspecialty interest in total shoulder replacement. Before medicine I was a member of the US Ski Team, and I represented the United States at the 1992 Winter Olympics in France. After retiring, I studied philosophy at the University of Colorado, graduated with honors from Dartmouth Medical School, and completed the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program. I have practiced trauma surgery exclusively for more than twenty years.

Alongside my clinical work, I study how surgeons reason under uncertainty — the cognitive biases, assumptions, and habits of thought behind everyday clinical decisions — with publications in JBJS, CORR, JAAOS, and elsewhere. I try to bring the same scrutiny to my own recommendations: my aim in the office is to be clear about what the injury is, what the reasonable options are, including not operating, and where the evidence is less settled than it may appear. More about my practice and my research is at www.robparisien.com.