Once a team doctor for the Baltimore Ravens, Dr. Claude Moorman, Professor of Orthopaedics at Duke University School of Medicine, turned 40 during the team’s post Superbowl celebration in 2001. Born at Duke University Hospital and married in the school’s chapel, Dr. Moorman’s Duke roots run deep.
“My father was briefly a resident in orthopedics at Duke and my mom was an OB/GYN nurse at Duke. My parents divorced and my mom remarried Dr. Sid Fortney, who was the greatest man I ever met. He was devoted to our family, and taught me the value of hard work and perseverance. My biological dad was diligent about attending our many life events, but because he went to fight in Vietnam, he could not be present on a daily basis.”
As a young man, Claude Moorman caught ‘athletic fever’ and found a tie in with medicine.
The truth is that sports drove me into medicine. I attended Duke as an undergrad and was blessed to encounter Dr. Frank Bassett, a team doctor and the most charismatic man I have ever met. He loved the athletes and lived and died by Duke sports; I found myself striving to be like Dr. Bassett, namely, respected by one’s colleagues and patients.
Aware that he wasn’t setting the academic world on fire, Claude Moorman said a few prayers. “My goal was the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, in part because my grandfather was encouraging me to come to the area. In addition, my godfather was an All-American football player who had had been athletic director at Cincinnati, and he insisted that I apply. I was not admitted to Duke, something that bothered me initially because my dad and stepdad had gone there. As for Cincinnati, I was not a great candidate there either (my average was barely a 3.0). But by the grace of God, I was admitted.”
Over time, Dr. Moorman’s perspective regarding his Duke rejection letter has evolved. “I soon realized that not being admitted to Duke was a blessing. Why? Because I had two years of basic science research at Cincinnati with the famed sports medicine specialist, Dr. Frank Noyes. The time in his lab gave me the opportunity to co-author two publications with him that were very helpful to my career. The irony of these years? I now sit on the admissions committee of Duke University School of Medicine.”
Then in 1987 it was back to Duke for residency, where Dr. Moorman would encounter a bit of (white) cloak and dagger intrigue. “The towering figure during this time was Dr. David Sabiston, the greatest educator in history of American surgery. His commitment and discipline were unparalleled, and he forced us to follow the decorum of the Duke tradition—no scrubs outside the OR, no seeing patients without a pressed white coat, etc. He had spies monitoring our every move, and out of that doggedness created some of the finest physicians around.”
Dr. Moorman’s confidence in himself and his profession grew significantly under the tutelage of another high level surgeon. “Dr. Jim Urbaniak, a consummate physician/scholar, was the head of orthopedics. We residents were fearless in the OR when he was there because we knew that he could fix anything we messed up. His mantra: you can succeed if you have a thorough knowledge of anatomy and excellent common sense. Too often now surgeons put technology ahead of common sense. In the end, however, we must know who we can’t fix.”
Technically, there is no Disney World in New York. Dr. Moorman found one, though. “In 1993 I headed to Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) to do a sports medicine and shoulder fellowship. Forget the candy store…HSS was like Disney World for someone with strong academic interests. Dr. Russ Warren, the developer of the second generation total shoulder, was my mentor. He was completely devoted to furthering research and poured all of his royalties into the lab.”
“I also learned much from Ronnie Barnes, the head trainer for the New York Giants. Ronnie had grown up under segregation, but had reached a pinnacle in his career and was incredibly knowledgeable. He really spurred my interest in working with high level athletes.”
Returning home to Durham, North Carolina, Dr. Moorman joined a private practice.
I worked with Dr. Bill Mallon, an authority on Olympic athletes; we agreed that when either of us encountered a complex shoulder case, we would get the other involved. Those two years were particularly challenging because I had to get comfortable with the business side of medicine.
And not only did he get that special ring, Dr. Moorman acquired some behind the scenes expertise with that American phenomenon, the Superbowl. “A colleague of mine had been approached by an orthopedic group in Maryland that was under consideration to work with the Baltimore Ravens. Via this connection, I was selected to be the Director of a new sports medicine group at the University of Maryland—one that would work with the Ravens. The only problem was that we had not yet been selected to be the team doctors. Despite heavy competition from Johns Hopkins and other local entities, we were chosen to treat the team. I worked with the Ravens for six years, with the highlight being the Superbowl championship.”
Dr. Moorman was also busy creating an outstanding sports medicine program at the University of Maryland. Then in 2001 the telephone rang. “Dr. Urbaniak called and said, ‘We have problem at Duke and we need you to come home.’ There was a ‘For sale’ sign on our lawn the next day. I quietly met with the Ravens owner, Art Modell and told him about the situation. He told me, ‘I support you but let’s not make it public until after the playoffs.’ Little did we know, the Ravens would beat the Broncos in the first round, and go on to the Superbowl.”
On the field or in the lab, Dr. Moorman is open to surprises. “My early research at HSS was honored with the Neer Award by the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. It involved the role of the coracoacromial ligament, which up until our work was considered to be the appendix of the shoulder. The issue typically affects two patient groups, the first being people with massive rotator cuff tears where the ligament is the last stop on the supra subluxation of the shoulder. And, as Dr. Frank Jobe showed in his research, it also affects throwing athletes. He found that only 30% of throwers returned to their prior activity level after coracoacromial release. Our finding, obtained through dissection, revealed a connection between the coracoacromial ligament in the underlying shoulder capsule that is very important in stabilizing the shoulder for throwers. Unfortunately, this connection is inadvertently released in many of the most commonly performed operative procedures. This is an explanation for why many previous surgeries have failed in this particular group.”
“Now I am working with Louis Defrate, Ph.D., on developing an in vivo model to undertake the dynamic evaluation of ACL reconstructions. This is the second of several studies, which thus far have shown that anatomic placement of the ACL on the femoral side appears to be the key to success with long term ACL reconstruction. Until we did this work I tended to do one of the less anatomic types of ACL reconstructions because patients seemed to do well in the short term. We are now finding that with graft elongation the kinematics are much more normal after anatomic reconstructions.”
Dr. Moorman’s other work has extended what is possible for his colleagues…and made things safer for patients. “In 2002 my colleagues and I were honored with the Aircast basic science award from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine for our work on the posterolateral corner of the knee. We found a less complicated way of fixing this corner based on previous work showing that the simple re-creation of the popliteo fibular ligament would be successful in stabilizing the knee. It became clear that the fibular approach was as effective in restoring functioning to the knee. The most significant outcome was that surgeons who do not do many of these operations can perform them easily…meaning increased safety for patients.”
Dr. Moorman doesn’t need Nike to motivate him (à la “Just do it.”). But he does want them as supporters. “Nike has graciously funded our exceptional sports performance lab, where we focus on movement science. We use force plates to measure shear and loading, and study ways to improve orthotics, such as measuring angular velocities, etc. Most recently we have studied long snappers in football to determine how to optimize their biomechanics. We are inviting top level long snappers from professional teams to come here so that we can analyze their movements. Additionally, we assist Nike with shoe design, at one point helping them develop the best cleat for the new field turf surface when it was introduced.”
And just maybe, Dr. Moorman and his family will be wearing Nikes when they climb Mount Olympus. “I want my tombstone to read, ‘Life was an adventure.’ I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with my son, and have asked both of my daughters to formulate potential adventures that we can share together. My daughter Virginia has indicated an interest in climbing Mt. Olympus, so that is on ‘the bucket list.’ My extraordinary wife Lynne is our family’s glue and keeps me accountable as a man and a Christian.”
Dr. Claude Moorman…bringing out the best in patients and colleagues.
