Douglas R. Dirschl, MD

Frank C. Wilson Distinguished Professor
and Chair, UNC Orthopaedics

Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

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

• 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

•  Trauma
• fracture care
• general orthopaedics

• 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

• 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.