Steven L. Frick, MD, FAOA is being recognized as an AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession for his leadership, mentoring, and lifelong contributions to orthopaedic surgery during his distinguished career. The champions for this effort on his behalf are Joshua C. Patt, MD, FAOA & J. Benjamin Jackson, III, MD, MBA, FAOA.
Bio
Dr. Steven L. Frick is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Associate Dean at Atrium Health Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Charlotte, and a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon with OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, North Carolina.
From 2016 to 2024, he served as Vice Chair of Education and Chief of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at Stanford University. He was the 35th President of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) in 2018–2019. Dr. Frick has held numerous leadership roles, including serving as the founding Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando from 2012 to 2016, where he was also Surgeon-in-Chief and Chairman of the Department of Surgery. Earlier in his career, he served on the faculty and as residency program director at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte from 1998 to 2012. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, he graduated from The George Washington University, where he played basketball, served as team captain, and was later inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
He received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He completed his orthopaedic surgery residency and a basic science research fellowship at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte under the leadership of Edward N. Hanley Jr., followed by a fellowship in pediatric orthopaedic surgery at Children’s Hospital San Diego under Dennis Wenger and Scott Mubarak. His professional honors include serving as an AOA North American Traveling Fellow, an AAOS Leadership Fellow, and an AOA American-British-Canadian Traveling Fellow.
Dr. Frick’s academic interests include clubfoot and foot and ankle disorders, trauma, hip dysplasia, growth, leadership, professionalism, and medical education. He is the author of 96 peer-reviewed articles and 24 book chapters, has co-edited two textbooks on pediatric orthopaedic trauma, and has delivered 155 national and international presentations. He has served as annual meeting program chair for POSNA, AAOS, JRGOS, and AOA, and has held board positions with AOA, POSNA, and JRGOS. He also led leadership development programs for AOA and AAOS for ten years and has been named Educator of the Year by both the Carolinas Medical Center Orthopaedic Residency Program and the Stanford University Orthopaedic Residency Program. He currently serves as a Director on the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, where he chairs both the Graduate Medical Education Committee and the Research Committee.
Dr. Frick is married to Lisa Kahn Frick, an artist he met in college and married in 1986. They have two children: Eric Frick, who is married to Abigail Ditesheim Frick, and Rachel Carnahan, who is married to Sean Carnahan and three grandchildren, Mia, Ada, and Nora. In the summer of 2024, Dr. Frick and his wife Lisa returned to Charlotte from Redwood City, California, to be closer to family and friends, rejoin colleagues at Carolinas Medical Center, and help with the opening of a new medical school. His hobbies include golf, fly fishing, and training their Hungarian Vizsla, Ollie.
The AOA gratefully acknowledges Dr. Frick’s extensive and comprehensive impact on the orthopaedic community and recognizes him as an AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession.
Tribute
“Dr. Frick has constantly led from the front. He epitomizes what it means to be an academic orthopaedic surgeon leader in patient care, research, and education. Beyond that, he takes the time to be a colleague, mentor, friend, husband, and father. When I think of who I want to become in my life, Dr. Frick is the role model. He has been this type of person for countless members of the orthopaedic community, and because of this, I believe it truly is the definition of a Pillar of AOA!”
J. Benjamin Jackson, III, MD, MBA, FAOA
Dr. Frick’s Co-Champion
“What makes Steve Frick a Pillar of the AOA is not just his resume, but his character. He leads without ego. He mentors without expectation. He puts patients and learners first. And he consistently reminds us – by example – what it means to be a physician, an educator, a professional, and to always do the right thing.”
Joshua C. Patt, MD, FAOA
Dr. Frick’s Co-Champion