Doctor Spotlight: Jeffrey W. Wiley

r. Jeffrey W. Wiley is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, practicing in Concord, Derry and Laconia. Dr. Wiley is a graduate of the College of Holy Cross and Dartmouth Medical School where he earned his medical degree. Dr. Wiley remained at Dartmouth Medical Center for his Internship and Residency, before completing his fellowship in Total Joint Replacement at Brigham & Women's Hospital.

Q&A

Q: When did you first know you wanted to become an orthopaedic surgeon?
A: Like many, I had some exposure to orthopaedic surgeons in high school as result of some sports injuries. In medical school, I was attracted to the aspect of orthopaedic surgery that identified a patient’s problem, fixed the problem and then witnessed how surgeons enjoyed patients return to activities as much as patients did.

Q: What were some challenges you faced along the way?
A: I didn’t go directly to medical school after college. For a few years, I was a pharmaceutical sales representative. It was difficult to leave the freedom of gainful employment and go back to the classroom. A career in medicine is demanding, and it can be challenging to balance the demands of a clinical medical/orthopaedic surgery practice with family needs.

Q: What makes your patient care approach unique?
A: I strive to make each patient feel they are the most important patient. This is done by giving patients the time they need in their office visits so they understand their treatment options and what reasonable expectations are for the treatments. Each patient is different, and this may result in some visits being longer than planned and some shorter. I want patients to remember who their doctor is/was.

Q: What made you decide to focus on arthroplasty and joint replacement?
A: Arthritis is often painful and limits patients function. It is an honor to help patients return to activities they enjoy. Some patients are simply helped by explaining what their condition is and assisting them with a plan to adjust their activities or lifestyle to reduce pain. Other patients are helped with medicines, injections, braces or physical therapy. Still others benefit from hip or knee replacement surgery.

Q: What is the most common injury you see?
A: At Concord Orthopaedics, we all have a particular area of expertise, typically with extra training beyond our general orthopaedic training. My practice focuses on adult problems of the hip and knee; i.e. I see patients who have hip and knee pain. After my orthopaedic residency at Dartmouth, I did additional fellowship training in hip and knee replacement at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. I can evaluate other problems that patients have at their visits, but often, my partners at Concord Orthopaedics have more advanced training and expertise in these other areas.

Q: Can you walk us through a day in the life of JWW?
A: One of the many things I enjoy about my career is that each day is different. Some days I am in the office seeing patients and other days I am in the operating room doing surgery. Not only do the activities of the day vary from office patients to surgery, but often the locations of which office or operating room I am working also vary. Currently, I see patients in our Concord, Derry and Laconia offices, and I have been operating at Concord Hospital and the Capitol Orthopaedic Surgery Centers in Concord and Derry locations. The hours we work in medicine can vary and are often longer than many other jobs.

Q: What are you most proud of in your career to this point?
A: I’m proud that I have a great wife (Kathleen) and children (Paul, Mary Anne and Matthew). I’m proud to provide excellent care for my patients and proud to work with my partners and staff at Concord Orthopaedics.

Fill in the Blanks

• If I were not a doctor, I would be a? I really love what I do, so it's not something that I consider. Perhaps I would enjoy being a football coach at some level.
• My biggest pet peeve is people not acknowledging you when you say hello to them in passing.
• The #1 song on my all-time playlist is: I’m not sure I can name one song. I like 80’s music and pop.
• One little known fact about me is I played college football at Holy Cross and also played football in Bologna, Italy after I graduated college. I wish I had written John Grisham's book "Playing for Pizza".