In some ways, it's just a change in handwear. After some clear thinking on the ski slopes of Idaho, Robert C. Matthias of Arkansas Specialty Orthopedic traded in his carpentry gloves for surgical gloves. Both professions involved craftsmanship and specialized expertise, but surgery was Matthias' calling. 

 

Still, Matthias, born and raised in Winter Park, Fla., spent almost four years at Duke University before seriously considering medicine.

 

He came from a family of lawyers, and had thought he'd follow in their footsteps, so he double majored in Public Policy Studies and Religion. In his senior year he changed his mind.

 

"I realized there was no way I wanted to go to law school. I didn't know yet if I wanted to go to medical school, though," he said. "At my school, pre-Med was such an intense, focused thing from day 1, really its own culture. I wasn't part of that. I didn't take freshman biology until the second semester of my senior year."

 

After graduation, Matthias took a year off to think about what he wanted to do. He left Duke entirely and spent the year in the ski town of Sun Valley, Idaho, working as a carpenter until the ski season, then for a ski company. "That year I skied 90 days. I was constantly on the slopes, and it was tremendously invigorating."

 

The Duke alumnus enjoyed the hard work and gave real consideration to going into carpentry with the goal of becoming a contractor. But the more he thought about medicine, the more it seemed like the right choice.

 

"I always thought medicine was something I'd enjoy, he said. "It's very gratifying. I like hands-on activities where you can readily see the results."

 

At the end of the year, he returned to Duke to take additional pre-Med coursework. When his wife Alison, whom he had met at Duke, started law school in Florida he transferred to the University of Florida for his remaining classes.

 

Nashville, Tennessee was next and then Madison, Wis. Matthias attended Vanderbilt Medical School then chose an orthopedics residency at the University of Wisconsin.

 

He said starting a few years later than the average medical student was a huge boon. "So many people just plow on through college and straight into the rigors of medical school," Matthias said. "I had had my time off, had really thought about what I wanted, and by the time I started was rejuvenated, energized and 100 percent committed to my goal. It was such an advantage, there were times it didn't even seem fair."

 

He'd gone into med school thinking he wanted to be a small town family doctor, but didn't take to that when he tried a family practice rotation. "I looked around at the other choices and just picked the one I enjoyed the most – orthopedics."

 

In Madison, Matthias realized his favorite work was with hand and upper extremity cases, so he returned to Florida for a fellowship with Paul Dell at the University of Florida. "He was the best mentor ever," Matthias said. "I learned so much from him and we had a great working relationship."

 

His specialty continually fascinates him. "I love the anatomy of the hand. I love doing hand surgery. I love that it involves caring for trauma, kids, older people with arthritis, and everything in between. If I have 10 cases in a day, each one is a different aspect of the spectrum. It's just right for me," he said.

 

Matthias had appealing job offers back in Wisconsin and in Montana, but he had the most attractive one in Little Rock, Alison's hometown. In the fall of 2006 he started practicing at Arkansas Specialty Orthopedics in Little Rock. He has a clinic in Heber Springs twice a month and is in clinic in Sherwood two or three days a month. 

 

"It sounds cliché, but I try to treat every patient like someone in my family. I don't just ship them in and out," he said, acknowledging this comes with logistical complications. "Some patients require more time, have more questions and need more attention from me. Giving them what they need may put me behind schedule, but that's just part of it. I try to spend the time with them that's needed."

 

Matthias' own family is now a family of five. Alison and Robert have three children, two boys and a girl, ages 7, 5 and 2.

 

"We spend a lot of time doing family activities, soccer practices, all that. We have a ski boat and it's fun to take the kids out in that on the weekends when we can," he said.

 

Matthias is an avid hunter, enjoying pheasant, duck, deer and turkey hunting, and enjoys taking his eldest son with him on the hunts.

 

Ironically, he no longer does carpentry, citing all the carpentry-related injuries he treats. "You could say I've gotten a little gun shy," he laughed.

 

He and his hand surgeon colleagues at ASO are looking at doing more research, and he hopes also to find time to do more medical missions. He helped start a resident's medical mission program at the University of Wisconsin, traveling to Guatemala with another physician, but has not yet had a chance to do more.

 

His primary goal, though, is to "always get better and smarter" at being a physician. "I'm done with my training, but I'm not done with learning. I learn more every day. Every hand I treat gives me more knowledge and understanding to apply to the next patient."

 

That growing expertise and work with his patients continually rejuvenates him, he said.