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The ADVANCE, August 16, 2023/Page 11A
Ponce
continued from page 10A
the first— if not the first—
Latin-American resident at
the Cincinnati hospital.
Growing up in Cincin
nati, Dr. Ponce earned an
undergraduate degree in
biology at the University
of Cincinnati, graduating
summa cum laude, and
earned a medical degree
on a military scholarship
at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tennessee.
While at Vanderbilt,
Dr. Ponce met his future
wife, Sandi Sikes, who was
at the time a nursing stu
dent at Georgia Southern
University and happens to
be from Toombs County.
They were participating in
a summer project in Phila
delphia in the early 1990s.
The two were among a
group of medical profes
sionals in training who pro
vided immunizations to
children following a severe
measles outbreak. “There
were nine cases of measles
encephalitis in Philadel
phia. Normally, one out of
1,000 cases of measles re
sults in encephalitis, or se
vere braining swelling, that
can be fatal. This means
there were around 9,000
cases of measles demon
strating a high rate of chil
dren not being vaccinated.”
After graduating from
Vanderbilt, Dr. Ponce was
a surgical intern at Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base
in Dayton, Ohio. He then
served as a flight surgeon at
a pilot training base in Co
lumbus, Mississippi. “I was
a primary care doctor, not
a pilot. I flew frequently so
I could speak the language
of the pilots.” It was there
he began his academic ca
reer by contributing to the
Air Force regulations with
updating the manuals on
airsickness management.
He synthesized the latest
scientific information on
airsickness management
in attempts to reduce pilot
candidates from washing
out due to airsickness.
After his assignment in
Mississippi, Dr. Ponce and
his family moved to Bos
ton where he completed
his orthopaedic residency
at the Harvard Combined
Orthopaedic Surgery Resi
dency. He then did a shoul
der fellowship at Harvard,
and thereafter he served as
an orthopaedic surgeon at
the United States Air Force
Academy (USAFA) Hos
pital in Colorado Springs
from 2004 to 2006. During
this time, Dr. Ponce was de
ployed at a forward staging
base in Kirkuk, Iraq. “We
stabilized injured soldiers
and sent them to Baghdad
and on to Germany,” Dr.
Ponce recalled. Following
his tour of duty at USAFA,
he then signed on at Uni
versity of Alabama at Bir
mingham where he was on
the staff for 15 years.
Dr. Ponce began his
career at UAB in 2006 as
an assistant professor in
the Department of Surgery,
Division of Orthopaedics,
and also served as an asso
ciate physician for the foot
ball team, the UAB Blazers.
It was a natural fit since
he was a collegiate athlete
himself. While at UAB, he
moved up to the ranks as
a full professor and served
as Vice Chair of the De
partment, Director of the
Orthopaedic Specialties
Institute Skills Lab, and Di
rector of the Orthopaedic
Research Fellowship.
It was at UAB where
he blossomed into an aca
demic leader and recog
nized skilled surgeon. He
has authored nearly 200
peer-reviewed journal pub
lications, as well as book
chapters and monographs.
He has been invited to sev
eral visiting professorships,
given national and interna
tional presentations, and
received multiple awards
for academic contributions
along with serving as past
president of the Veterans
Association Orthopaedic
Society and the Alabama
Orthopaedic Society. His
growing recognition as a
thought leader has led to
several industry collabo
rations including Stryker,
Acumed, Tornier/Wright
Medical, Smith & Neph
ew, Orthopedic Designs
North America to improve
orthopaedic implants, par
ticularly shoulder fracture
and replacement implants.
He is an active member of
the American Academy
of Orthopaedic Surgeons,
American Orthopaedic As
sociation and the Ameri
can Shoulder and Elbow
Surgeons and a reviewer
m UGHSTON
Photo by Deborah Clark
OFFICE TEAM — Dr. Ponce stands with his Vidalia office team, from left to right, Veron
ica Brown, office staff; Melissa Pinckney, medical assistant/medical secretary; Wendy
Ritchie, x-ray tech.
Photo by Deborah Clark
STUDENT'S GIFT TO MENTOR — Haley McKissack, who is
now a medical resident at Emory University Hospital in
Atlanta, was among Dr. Ponce's students at UAB, and
thanked her mentor by gifting to him her self portrait.
for the Journal of Bone and
Joint Surgery, the Journal
of Surgical Education, and
the Journal of Shoulder
and Elbow Surgery.
In the throes of the
pandemic, after some
‘gentle nudging’ by his
wife to move closer to fam
ily, he joined the Hughston
Clinic. In addition to see
ing patients and operating,
Dr. Ponce was recruited to
Hughston Clinic to lead
their research efforts and
continue the academic leg
acy of Dr. Hughston. Pho
tos of Dr. Jack C. Hughston
(1917-2004) hang on the
walls of the clinic where
Dr. Ponce works in Vidalia.
Widely considered as one
of the fathers of sport med
icine, Dr. Hughston’s life
has had a major impact on
the way orthopaedic inju
ries are treated - especially
in the arena of sports. Dr.
Hughston was a visionary
and many of his treatments
continue to be used today.
Dr. Ponce said of the icon,
“Significant national sports
medicine leadership with
three past presidents of
the American Orthopaedic
Society for Sports Medi
cine, have come from the
Hughston Clinic.”
Dr. Ponce splits his
time between Columbus,
where he sees patients
and operates on Monday,
Tuesday, and a half day
on Wednesday, to Vidalia
on Wednesday afternoons
through Fridays. Weather
permitting, he flies be
tween Columbus and Vi
dalia — otherwise it’s a
road trip. Happily, he gets
to spend weekends with his
family at their farm in New
Branch, outside of Lyons
or in their downtown Vida
lia home.
Since the Vidalia office
opened in June 2021, Dr.
Ponce is staying busy see
ing patients with the range
of orthopaedic issues, but
the majority of these are
shoulder cases. Word has
traveled fast. Patients are
coming to the Vidalia of
fice from Statesboro, Sa
vannah, Macon and Tifton
to see Dr. Ponce because of
his reputation as a shoulder
expert. Likewise, he is see
ing patients in Columbus,
many who are traveling far
distances to be treated.
The walls of the Vi
dalia Clinic are lined with
reminders of Dr. Ponce’s
journey as an orthopaedic
surgeon, including a letter
from the Governor of Ala
bama and the President of
UAB thanking him after
successful shoulder opera
tions. Dr. Ponce also oper
ated on famous American
rapper RickRoss, and notes
that the celebrity makes a
reference to the surgeon
who repaired his shoulder
in his book, Hurricane.
"He probably wouldn’t
recognize me,” Dr. Ponce
shared, but did comment
that he would love for the
African-American rapper
he once helped to spon
sor an underrepresented
minority medical student
for a research fellowship
at Hughston Clinic. “The
field of orthopaedics is dis
proportionately competi
tive, particularly for minor
ities, and research is a way
for students to distinguish
themselves in a positive
way and open doors.”
On the upcoming ho
rizon, Dr. Ponce is one
of six lead orthopaedists
who form a core team of
researchers from Cana
da, Spain and the United
States including the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Min
nesota, and the Florida
Orthopaedic Institute in
Tampa, Florida. The team,
which has 25 total partici
pants, is focused on bring
ing the Stryker Mako robot
into shoulder surgery. The
robots are now being used
in knee and hip replace
ment surgery, but have not
yet been approved by the
FDA for use on shoulders.
MHMH CEO Matt
Hasbrouck said that the
hospital’s parent company,
HCA, owns a number of
Mako robots. “This type of
surgery will be revolution
ary and to have here one
of the core six researchers
advocating for this surgery,
and for Vidalia to have the
potential for being one of
the first places in the world
to use a Mako robot for
shoulder replacement sur
gery, is pretty impressive.
The community needs to
know the talent we have
here,” Hasbrouck said of
Dr. Ponce.
Expected approval for
the Mako robot applica
tion in shoulder surgery is
the mid-2020s. Although
the Mako looks to provide
more precision and hope
fully fewer complications,
its value in shoulder sur
gery must be carefully re
searched and documented,
Dr. Ponce acknowledged.
FOOTBALL
SEASON
IS HERE!
Best of luck to
all our teams!
StateFarm
Phillip Gay State Farm
1215 Arch St. Soperton
529-6131
phil@philgay.net
ARE THERE ANY
ABSOLUTES LEFT?
We have all heard that there are those running around this country
claiming that gender is over. I actually saw a t-shirt plastered with
those exact words worn by a young woman as she walked past me on
a street in Chicago. We now hear of men who claim to be a woman
trapped in a man's body or a woman who claims to be a man trapped
in a woman's body. The National Teachers Association (hopefully not
here) wants to cram this down our children's throat by teaching it to
them, chose your gender kids! This is what happens to a society that
claims there are no absolutes, total chaos! When these arrogant un
learned people say there are no absolutes that statement in and of itself
is an absolute. Then we hear that there is no truth and I would respond
by asking, is that true? The bible says in Isaiah 5:20, Woe to those who
call evil good and good evil, Who put darkness for light and light for
darkness, Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! God has pro
nounced a woe (judgment) on our nation today! Before we Christians
get too Holier than thou as we Christians run around with a woe is
me attitude complaining about our national mess knowing God will
see us through and that we are too blessed to be stressed, this is like
complaining about who got elected when you did not vote. I wonder if
God would be telling us to SHUT UP!! Do not tell me that statement
is not love either, remember Jesus ran the money changers, (modern
day prosperity PIMP preachers as Jimmy Swaggart's son stated in a
message-I agree!), out of the temple with a whip! The problem is, are
we "broken and burdened" about our land to the extent that we would
pray and fast? Jesus did not say, if you fast but rather when you fast. We
go to church regularly and think that is going to make a change while
we do nothing. Churches today have learned to market Christianity.
An Irish preacher actually told the evangelist Paul Washer, that your
American Christian theology is 3000 miles wide and about one inch
deep. Jesus said DENY yourself and pick up your cross and follow me.
The solution for our nation is found in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 that says,
When I “SHUT UP" the heavens and there is no rain or command the
locust to devour the land, or send PESTILENCE among MY PEOPLE
(like the recent pandemic. READ DEUTERONOMY 28:58-59), ...IF...
my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and
pray and seek my face, and turn from their WICKED ways, then I will
HEAR from heaven, and will FORGIVE their SIN and heal their land.
By the way, God did not ask anyone but Christians to get right with
Him regarding healing the land. Here is an ABSOLUTE: We only have
the power to change our nation when God works HIS power through
us (Galatians 2:20) by the Holy Spirit when we are obedient to His
Word and follow Him only. Philippians 2:13 says, For, it is God who
works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. I ABSO
LUTELY agree!
Passover Lamb Ministries
Vidalia, Ga
pesimmonskairos@gmail.com
LEESA
•Hllll-
HAGAN
STATE HOUSE
Georgia's 156th District
GOOD LUCK TO ALL
OUR AREA TEAMS!