UNC Orthopaedics Douglas Dirschl, MD

For Patients | For Alumni | For Medical Professionals

Douglas R. Dirschl, MD

Professor and Chairman

Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Department of Orthopaedics
CB #7055, Bioinformatics Building
UNC School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7055
Appointments: 919.962.6637

Contact person: Cheryl Cooper
(cheryl_cooper@m ed.unc.edu)
919.966.9072 (t)
919.966.6730 (f)

Education:

BS: Stanford University
MD: Oregon Health Sciences University, cum laude
Residency: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Honors, Awards, and Recognitions (selected):

2001 American British and Canadian Traveling Fellowship
Consultant Reviewer, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
Consultant Reviewer, Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
Frank C. Wilson Faculty Teaching Award, UNC School of Medicine
Edwin J. Bovill, Jr., MD, Memorial Lecturer, Orthopaedic Trauma Association
Editorial Board, Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma
Teaching Scholar, UNC School of Medicine
Junior Faculty Development Award, UNC School of Medicine
Nathan Womack Scholar; Department of Surgery, UNC School of Medicine

Clinical Interests:

Trauma; fracture care; general orthopaedics

Research Interests:

Basic science of fracture healing; outcomes following musculoskeletal trauma; cost containment in orthopaedics; reliability in classification of fractures; medical education; fractures of the tibial plafond; development of professional behavior, correlations between articular injury and the development of arthrosis.

Academic Appointments:

1993-1999	Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, UNC School of Medicine
1996-1998	Chief, Orthopaedic Trauma Service; Wake Medical Education Institute, UNC School of Medicine
1998-2001	Executive Director, Wake Area Health Education Center; Wake Medical Education Institute, UNC School of Medicine
1998-2001	Executive Director, Wake Area Health Education Center; Wake Medical Education Foundation, UNC School of Medicine
1998-2001	Senior Vice President; WakeMed
1999-2001	Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; UNC School of Medicine
2001-2003	Professor and Chair, Department of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation, The Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR
2003-present	Chairman and Frank C. Wilson Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedics, UNC School of Medicine

Selected Publications:

Wilson FC, Dirschl DR. Orthopaedics: Pretest, Self-Assessment, and Review. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1996.
Dirschl DR, Dahners LE. The mangled extremity: When should it be amputated? J Am Acad Orthop Surg 4:182-190, 1996.
Dirschl DR, Adams GL. A critical assessment of methods to improve reliability in the classification of fractures, using fractures of the tibial plafond as a model. J Orthop Trauma 11:471-476, 1997.
Dirschl DR, Henderson RC, Oakley WS. Accelerated loss of bone mineral following a hip fracture: A prospective longitudinal study. Bone 20:79-82, 1997.
Dirschl DR, Smith IL. Reuse of external fixator components: Effects on costs and complications. J Trauma 44:855-858, 1998.
Dirschl DR, Duff GA, Michau TS, Dahners LE, Edin M. High pressure pulsatile lavage irrigation of fresh fractures: Effects on fracture healing. J Orthop Trauma 17:460-463, 1998.
DeCoster TA, Willis MC, Marsh JL, Williams TM, Nepola JV, Dirschl DR, Hurwitz SR: Rank order analysis of tibial plafond fracture: Does injury or reduction predict outcome? Foot Ankle Int 20:44-49, 1999.
Dirschl DR, Piedrahita L, Henderson RC: Changes in bone mineral density six years following a hip fracture: A prospective, longitudinal study. Bone 26:95-98, 2000.
Martin J, Marsh JL, Nepola JV, Dirschl DR, Hurwitz S, DeCoster TD. Radiographic Fracture Assessments: Which Ones Can We Reliably Make? J Orthop Trauma 14(6):379-385, 2000.
Dirschl DR, Adams GL. Reliability in evaluating letters of recommendation. Acad Medicine 75(10): 1029, 2000.
Brown OL, Dirschl DR, Obremskey WT. Incidence of hardware-related pain and its effect on functional outcomes following ORIF of ankle fractures. J Orthop Trauma 2001; 15:271-274.
Dirschl DR, Miclau TS, Duff GA, Dahners LE, Edin M. Pulsatile lavage of fresh fractures: Effectiveness at removing particulate matter. J Orthop Trauma 2002; 16:162-165.
Dirschl DR, Dahners LE, Crouch JH, Adams GL, Wilson FC. Correlation of selection criteria for residency applicants with subsequent performance as residents. Clin Orthop Rel Res 2002; 399:265-271.
Dirschl DR. Scoring trial for resident applicants: Is a scoring system reliable? Clin Orthop Rel Res 2002; 399:260-264.
Marsh JL, Buckwalter J, Gelberman RC, Dirschl DR, Olson S, Brown T, Llinias A. Does an anatomic reduction really change the result in the management of articular fractures? J Bone Joint Surg 2002; 84-A:1259-1271.
Dirschl DR, Miclau T, Dahners LE, Caprise PL, LeCroy, CM. Pulsatile lavage of contaminated fractures: Effects on rate of union and incidence of infection. J Orthop Research 2002; 20:1205-1209.
Marsh JL, Weigel DP, Dirschl DR. Tibial plafond fractures – How do these ankles function over time? J Bone Joint Surg 2003; 85-A:287-295.
Sprague S, Bhandari M, Devereaux PJ, Guyatt GH, Cook DJ, Swiontkowski MF, Tornetta P, Dirschl DR, Schemitsch EH. Barriers to full-text publication following presentation at annual orthopaedic surgery meetings. J Bone Joint Surg 2003; 85-A:158-163.
Dirschl DR, Marsh JL, Buckwalter J, Gelberman R, Olson S, Brown T, Llinas A. The clinical and basic science of articular fractures. Accepted by J American Acad Orthop Surg, September, 2002, 30 pages.
Dirschl DR, Tornetta P, Bhandari M. Designing, conducting, and evaluating journal clubs in orthopaedic surgery. Accepted by Clin Orthop Rel Research, September, 2002, 16 pages.

Grants

Medical Education Institute Research Foundation; "Fracture Classification Systems: Reasons for Poor Interobserver Reliability," August 1994.
UNC Junior Faculty Development Award; "Pulsatile Lavage versus Bulb Syringe Irrigation of Fresh Fractures: Effectiveness at Removing Foreign Particles and Effects on Osteocyte Viability," November 1994.
EBI Medical Systems Education/Research Foundation; “High Pressure Pulsatile Lavage Irrigation of Contaminated Intraarticular Fractures: Effects on Fracture Healing”, June 1998.
Orthopaedic Trauma Association Research Foundation; “Pathogenesis/Prevention of Posttraumatic Ankle Osteoarthritis," November, 1998.
Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation; Prospective, Randomized Study of Motion Versus Nonmotion in the Management of Tibial Plafond Fractures; JL Marsh (University of Iowa), DR Dirschl (University of North Carolina), TB DeCoster (University of New Mexico), S Hurwitz (University of Virginia), March, 2001.
Arthritis Foundation; “Mechanical Determinants of Post-Traumatic Arthritis in Tibial Pilon Fractures”; JL Marsh and Tom Brown (University of Iowa), DR Dirschl (University of North Carolina), TB DeCoster (University of New Mexico), S Hurwitz (University of Virginia), February, 2001.
Orthopaedic Trauma Association Research Foundation: “Do Variations in Pulsatile Lavage Pressure Affect Cancellous Bone Structure and Fracture Healing?” DR Dirschl, B Polzin, T Ellis, A Herzberg, January, 2002.
Orthopaedic Trauma Association Research Foundation: “Comparison of Cast VS Intramedullary Nails of Stable Tibial Shaft Fractures.” DR Dirschl (OHSU), WT Obremskey (Vanderbilt), other investigators at five trauma centers, January, 2002.
McMaster University Department of Surgery Grant: “Quality Assessment Checklist to Evaluate Surgical Therapies (QUEWT): Development and Validation." M Bhandari, D Dirschl, P Tornetta III, V Patenall, October, 2002.

Revised June 2006