UVA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Alumni Reunion Conference Welcomes Alumni Spanning Six Decades

2025 Orthopaedics Alumni Reunion Conference attendees

The University of Virginia’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery welcomed over 40 residency and fellowship alumni spanning six decades to Charlottesville on April 11-12, 2025, for an educational conference at the the Orthopaedic Center on Ivy Road. The conference kicked off with a party at the home of Bobby Chhabra, MD, the chair of the department and an alumnus of both the medical school and the residency program at UVA.

2015 alumnus Scott Yang, MD, debates his mentor Mark Abel, MD, on surgery for scoliosis

2015 alumnus Dr. Scott Yang debates his mentor Dr. Mark Abel on surgery for scoliosis.

Events on Friday and Saturday featured faculty lectures from each division highlighting the department’s clinical expertise and surgical innovations. An entertaining addition to the program this year was the “Debate-Your-Mentor” debates between orthopaedic resident alumni and their UVA faculty mentors. Seven recent alumni challenged their faculty in six-minute talks on controversial topics within their subspecialties after which the audience voted on the winner. The UVA faculty were clearly prepared for battle winning every contest! The conference also involved alumni in a special “Alumni Panel” moderated by Truitt Cooper, MD, in which six alumni provided guidance about practicing orthopaedics and shared lessons from their experiences.

Keynote orthopaedic speakers included 2003 UVA Orthopaedic residency graduate Todd Milbrandt, MD, and recently retired UVA faculty member Mark Miller, MD. Dr. Milbrandt, the current president of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, lectured on the topic “How to Innovate in Orthopedic Surgery through the Lens of Vertebral Body.” Dr. Miller, the former president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, gave a comprehensive talk covering the topics “History of Sports Knee Surgery” and “Career Aphorisms.” The lectures from Dr. Milbrandt and Dr. Miller and their associations with UVA Orthopaedics underscored the department’s outstanding national reputation.

Dr. Bobby Chhabra and Allie Redshaw

Highlights of the conference included inspirational special presentations by past patients of UVA Orthopaedics. Allie Redshaw is a patient of Dr. Chhabra’s who tragically lost her dominant right hand in an industrial meat grinder in 2017 while pregnant. Allie spoke about how integral Dr. Chhabra and the team at UVA Orthopaedics were to her recovery from injury and the restoration of her life and function. She is now a world class paralympian rock and mountain climber and runs a successful yoga studio. Robyn Modly, who nearly lost her leg from a malignant bone tumor in 1981, was a patient of former faculty and chair Gwo-Jaw Wang, MD. Along with the department chair at the time, Warren Stamp, MD, Dr. Wang and his team resected the tumor and performed a reconstructive knee surgery that restored her ability to dance and play sports for over 40 years. Robyn expressed her gratitude for their expertise and kindness during her surgery and recovery and showed a recent video of her dancing to demonstrate the long-term success of the operation.

Dr. Josh Li, Sandhya Chhabra, and others toast UVA Orthopaedics at the alumni conference dinner.

Outside of the lectures and discussions in the conference room, alumni, faculty, and guests gathered for a special dinner at Level 10 in downtown Charlottesville. They enjoyed catching up with former residency classmates, faculty, and friends. Dr. Wang even brought a couple bottles of cognac to celebrate the occasion! The conference closed with a special event for alumni and faculty at the clubhouse at the UVA baseball game on Saturday afternoon against Pittsburgh. UVA Head Coach Brian O’Connor visited with the group at the conference before the game and discussed building culture within an organization and the current landscape of college sports.

It was an outstanding conference with a comprehensive educational program and enjoyable gathering of old friends and colleagues. Planning is already underway for the next UVA Orthopaedics Alumni Reunion in spring of 2027.

Orthopaedic Alumni Conference Presentation Videos

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