UAB Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Professor William P. Garth Jr., M.D., was honored for 35 years of service at the annual UAB Service Awards, which celebrates those employees who have made a substantial career commitment to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The program was designed to acknowledge and illustrate gratitude to employees at each five-year milestone of service to UAB.
Garth has been a member of the UAB Department of Orthopaedic Surgery faculty since 1984. He is a surgical provider in the UAB Sports Medicine Clinic, which serves the UAB Blazer Athletics Department and multiple local schools and organizations. We sat down to hear more about the years that Garth has invested in UAB.
How did you get started at UAB and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery?
“A myriad of athletic injuries in my youth led me to medical school with a special interest in knee and shoulder instabilities in the athlete. I moved to Birmingham in Dec. 1981 when I saw the opportunity at UAB to develop a sports medicine practice.
Kurt Niemann MD, then Chief of UAB Orthopaedics, with the help of athletic trainer Drew Ferguson, MEd, LAT, ATC, CSCS, had begun a voluntary sports medicine service for high school and college athletes in the basement of Cooper Green Hospital.
After volunteering to serve these athletes- along with other orthopaedists- the clinic (with the financial support of the Crippled Children’s Foundation of the Monday Morning Quarterback Club) moved to a state of art facility in the Children’s Hospital.
In 1984, I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by UAB Orthopaedics to a sports medicine fellowship with Fred Allman M.D., a founder of the American Orthopaedic’s Society of Sports Medicine. Dr. Allman was known for recognizing the, now accepted but then controversial, fact that the untreated anterior cruciate ligament tear would likely end athletic participation and result in progressive damage.
I returned to UAB as the first fellowship trained sports medicine orthopaedist in Alabama and as the medical director of the UAB sports medicine clinic at Children’s of Alabama.”
How have you witnessed innovation and growth within the department over 35 years?
“In this position I have been able to research and report cutting edge techniques for evaluation and treatment of knee and shoulder instabilities. This background allowed me to develop a technique for arthroscopic ACL reconstruction in the knee, a procedure which I have been privileged to perform more than 2,000 times. Many of our former residents still use the technique that I teach.
In his recent press conference, new UAB Basketball Head Coach Andy Kennedy gives a shout out to myself and Drew Ferguson for saving his season with a successful ACL reconstruction. It is moments like this that remind me what an impact our department has on the lives of athletes.
UAB has provided the opportunity for collaborating efforts with pioneers such as Jack Lernon, Ph.D., along with resident physicians for research into joint instabilities. We were the first to recognize the significance of the physical exam techniques to determine the ligamental deficiencies of various knee ligaments stabilizing the patella leading to now universally-recognized surgical procedures to correct these debilitating instabilities.
Thanks to UAB I can truly say that I have been able to pursue knowledge that has not only changed the world for my patients but also for me, for which I will always be grateful. The opportunities at UAB for those in the Department of Orthopaedics in the pursuit of knowledge to improve treatment of musculoskeletal conditions remain endless.”
The UAB Department of Orthopaedic Surgery celebrates Dr. William Garth for his 35 years of service. See the complete list of the 2020 service awards recipients here.