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Half a lifetime ago, a high schooler named Eric Gordon decided on the sidelines of the Arkansas Tech football field that he wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine. The Russellville, Ark. native was dating the daughter of the team’s doctor, a local orthopedic surgeon. “He saw I was interested, so he let me hang out with him on the sidelines at the games and even watch him in the operating room,” Gordon, now a sports medicine specialist at Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics (ASO), said.

“I knew right away I wanted to do what her dad could do.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly for someone who enjoyed spending so much time with his girlfriend’s father, that high school romance eventually faded. Gordon’s interest in sports medicine orthopedics, however, did not. He graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and then to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where he also did his orthopedics residency. In 2005, Gordon moved to Los Angeles for a fellowship at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute (SCOI) before taking a position at ASO in 2006.

His year in California was eye-opening. Gordon was studying under the tutelage of Dr. Stephen Snyder, one of the world’s leading experts in shoulder arthroscopy. Frustrated with trying to teach arthroscopic shoulder procedures using cadaveric parts, Snyder had established the first-of-its-kind Center for Learning Arthroscopic Skills, called a CLASroom. The CLASroom included state-of-the-art surgical equipment, computers, virtual reality simulators, and lifelike shoulder arthroscopy models Snyder developed.

The fellows could hone their surgical skills in the CLASroom before operating on patients. Gordon said working on the models and with the simulators was an invaluable aid not only in perfecting known skills but also for developing new ways of operating. “A lot of the work we did was cutting-edge stuff, still pretty experimental, so it wasn’t the same kinds of things I was seeing in Arkansas,” Gordon said.

The models were particularly helpful. “Especially with arthroscopy where you’re operating in a very confined space with a camera, there are many new procedures still being developed. Working on them over and over, you just get better and better. On the models you can perform procedures like a rotator cuff repair; you can take the shoulder apart, take all your stitches and anchors out and do it all over again.”

Once he got back to his home state and began working with ASO, Gordon realized he had never seen another practice arthroscopic surgery center like the one he’d left in California. “We didn’t have anything like that at UAMS, and I’d learned the value it could have, not only for teaching but for keeping your skills sharp, and by experimenting with new methods and ways of increasing efficiency,” he explained.

Missing his old CLASroom workstations, he recently decided to set one up in his own office. Gordon persuaded several companies to donate surgical equipment and got some of the surgical models his mentor had developed. He insists his workstation is not nearly as impressive or comprehensive as what is available at SCOI, but believes it is unique in Arkansas.

A few UAMS orthopedics residents have already come over to try it out. Gordon said he enjoys sharing with other physicians the advanced techniques he learned. “I’m still pretty young, but I think eventually I would like to go into academics,” he said. “I like teaching and finding new ways to solve old problems. I can see myself taking a faculty position at some point and really enjoying that. But first, I want to build up a busy practice.”

One of the attractions of the sports medicine orthopedic specialty for Gordon is the people he treats. A self-described “fitness fanatic”, Gordon feels a certain affinity with his patients. “Unlike most specialties, the majority of my patients are healthy,” he said. “They’re usually athletes in great shape and completely committed to their recovery and their overall health. They just need to get their knee, ankle, or shoulder fixed so they can get back in their game. I like helping them get there.”

He also enjoys the daily diversity of his work. “I never know whether I’ll be seeing knee injuries, shoulder injuries, ankle injuries, or from what sport. I just know that they’ll be from sports-related stresses. It keeps it lively.”
His group, which is entirely fellowship-trained specialists, works with a number of Central Arkansas high schools, as well as Arkansas Baptist College, the Arkansas Twisters arena football team, and with various sporting events like the Little Rock Marathon.

Gordon has been married for eight years to his wife Kori, a pharmacist. “She was in pharmacy school while I was in medical school, so I picked her up in the medical school library,” Gordon laughed. They have two sons, Graham, 7, and Parker, 5.

The boys are a little young yet, but Gordon says when they get to be in high school, history could repeat itself. If their dates show any interest in learning about orthopedic surgery, he said he’ll be glad to show them the ropes.



March 2008

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