Dr. Wallace F. Andrew, Jr., senior partner at Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic (ROC), has retired from the practice after nearly 34 years of dedicated service. In addition to shaping ROC into Wake County’s largest and most trusted orthopaedic practice, Dr. Andrew served as team orthopedist for North Carolina State Wolfpack athletics for 30 years.
“We are extremely grateful to Dr. Andrew for his outstanding service to Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic, our staff and all our patients, ” said Dr. Marty Isbell, orthopedic surgeon with ROC, in the February 2, 2016 news release. “Everyone will certainly miss his presence, but we wish him a retirement full of quality time with family and friends and many new adventures. We seek to honor Dr. Andrew’s contributions to our practice through elevating the level of service we provide to patients and by continuing our leadership in the orthopaedic field and greater Raleigh community.”
As indicated in the news release, Dr. Andrew currently serves as past president of the University of Virginia Medical Alumni Association board of directors. Prior to joining ROC in 1981, Dr. Andrew completed a hand surgery and sports medicine fellowship at the University of Virginia. He completed his residency at Columbia Orthopaedics at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and an internship at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, and graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
Active in the medical community, Andrew is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons; a past president of the North Carolina Society for Surgery of the Hand, Southern Orthopaedic Association Councilor and Southeastern Hand Club; and a board member of the WakeMed Foundation. He is also a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS), the NCMS Sports Medicine Committee and the Wake County Medical Society. Previously, Andrew served as Clinical Instructor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
Dr. Andrew told OTW, “I recently attended the funeral of a good friend. He was quite a large character, and the service was altogether fitting and proper. He and I had gotten to know each other many years ago when he was a patient. We became friends over the years. With retirement, I know I will miss the opportunity to develop those physician-patient relationships, and I will also miss the many people I worked with on a day-to-day basis.”
Asked about a funny moment during his career, Dr. Andrew noted, “When Jim Valvano was coaching the NC State University basketball team, I traveled with the team to the University of Virginia. Somehow in the pregame hubbub, Coach V split the seat of his pants. Suture material was obtained from the trainer’s kit, and while I was sewing up the seat of the coach’s pants, he was parading around the locker room in his boxer shorts giving the pregame pep talk. State lost the game on a controversial play, and when interviewed by the media afterwards, Coach V said, ‘The game was so bad that the doc had to sew up my pants before it started and then we lost on that play.’ That quote was subsequently featured in Sports Illustrated, my favorite magazine. Although totally anonymously, I was featured in Sports Illustrated that week.”
