Physician Profile: Dr. Scott C. Faucett, The Orthopaedic Center

The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics is the largest orthopaedic provider in the United States, and we’re continuing to grow as we welcome new orthopaedic specialists and advance our geographic footprint. Dr. Faucett is one of our most recent physicians who joined us at The Orthopaedic Center care center last year, serving as a sports medicine and hip preservation specialist. His medical interests include arthroscopic hip and knee surgery, hip replacement, cartilage and meniscus repair, complex ligament reconstruction of the knee and more. He also has a unique expertise treating athletes engaged in winter sport activities, including skiers and snowboarders after training at the prestigious Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado. We sat down with Dr. Faucett to get to know him a bit better:

1. You are a sports medicine and hip preservation specialist. What exactly does that mean?
Sports medicine involves the treatment of acute injuries, such as muscle tears, ligament injuries, traumatic labrum tears, stress fractures, etc. Then there are chronic issues that involve more long-term management or treatment, which are the conditions that hip preservation specialists often treat. For example, I frequently treat femoroacetabular impingement or hip impingement, which patients develop in their teenage growing years, and then ultimately puts them at risk for overuse injuries down the road. The condition is silent at first, but once the patient experiences an injury, such as a labrum tear, they need to see a hip preservation specialist. There previously was no treatment for this condition, but now with hip arthroscopy, specialists can correct the hip impingement, which reduces the risk of osteoarthritis and the need for a hip replacement. Hip preservation specialists also treat conditions such as hip dysplasia and other injuries to the labrum.

2. Why did you choose to specialize in these areas?
Treating hip conditions is a new frontier in sports medicine and orthopaedics. I enjoy the complexity of how the hip relates to the back and the knee, as well as developing a diagnostic plan to treating injuries, whether it’s a conservative approach such as activity modification or complex surgical options.

3. You completed the Steadman Clinic’s prestigious fellowship in Vail, Colorado treating winter sport athletes. Can you describe that experience?
The Steadman Clinic has a highly competitive fellowship program with the opportunity to learn about top treatments and complex surgeries from leaders in the field. During the fellowship, I learned about hip arthroscopy, knee, shoulder, and ankle arthroscopy as well as advanced techniques such as labrum reconstruction. I had the opportunity to treat all athletes but this is also when I joined as a physician to the US Ski and Snowboard teams. I trained with Dr. Robert LaPrade, who invented many of the complex surgeries we perform today, and I continue working with colleagues from The Steadman Clinic in a research capacity.

4. What are the most common injuries that you treat in your practice? What procedures do you commonly perform?
The most common procedure I perform is hip arthroscopy for hip impingement correction, labrum repair and reconstruction, but I do everything from those complex surgeries to minimally invasive hip replacements. I also perform knee surgeries such as complex ligament reconstructions, ACL surgeries, cartilage restoration, meniscus repair and more.

5. What made you choose to go into orthopaedics in the first place?
I enjoy the diagnostic challenge that comes with orthopaedics. It’s a very hands-on discipline. We spend time with our patients to learn about their injury or condition and use technologies such as X-Rays and MRIs to develop a scientific treatment plan. Musculoskeletal conditions are very prevalent in the United States, and it’s important to get patients back to their active lifestyles – or even back to work after an injury. Helping patients return to activity impacts global health in terms of obesity, diabetes, blood pressure issues and more. It is a tremendous honor to help give patients their lives back, and they are very grateful for this gift.

The variety of treatment options also is appealing. As orthopaedic physicians, we often have many treatment options, ranging from conservative approaches such as activity modification, all the way to surgery. Trying to find the right treatment option to reach a patient’s goals is part of the art of orthopaedic surgery.

6. What excites you most about the future of orthopaedics? Are there any new technologies or procedures that you feel will change the industry in the coming years?
We have made leaps and bounds in surgical techniques but we are just on the cusp of change in terms of how we treat certain injuries. For example, we have a challenge in front of us to learn how to prevent osteoarthritis. We don’t truly understand how to prevent this condition, but I believe biologics will present a huge breakthrough in treatment.

7. Why did you choose to pursue a career in private practice care?
The private practice model of care gives us the ability to be more efficient in how we treat patients by involving the physician in the management of the patient. I have also had the opportunity to continue to publish research, something many people think you can achieve only at an academic institution. I was recently the editor on a book called The Menisci, and I have also had the time to write papers and give podium talks and lectures at international sports medicine meetings.

8. How has joining The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics benefitted your practice?
The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics is the largest orthopaedic group in the country, made up of like-minded orthopedists in pursuit of providing the best orthopaedic care to our patients. As a part of this group, we are able to focus primarily on caring for our patients, entrusting the larger group with the business decisions associated with running a practice. I also enjoy collaborating with other orthopaedic physicians who know what it’s like to practice here in the Mid-Atlantic.

9. What do you do outside of work? Are you an athlete yourself?
I like to ski and in the summertime I enjoy hiking, fly fishing and golf.