Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) honors David W. Altchek, M.D., with its 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dr. Altchek is co-chief emeritus of the sports medicine and shoulder serve at the Hospital for Special Surgery.
“We are privileged to honor Dr. Altchek for his outstanding contributions to HHS and to the field of sports medicine. He played a key role in the expansion of the Sports Medicine Institute to the West Side of Manhattan and in the opening of HHS Florida in West Palm,” Bryan T. Kelly, M.D., surgeon-in-chief at HHS, said in a statement.
“His name is synonymous with the finest sports medicine care in the nation for athletes at all levels, including elite professionals. His pioneering surgical techniques have raised the bar for patients at HSS and beyond.”
Altchek not only serves the health needs of everyday athletes, but also that of professional athletes. He serves as medical director for the New York Mets and is a medical consultation for the National Basketball Association.
He has also served as North American medical director for the Association of Tennis Professionals, which sponsors the men’s professional tennis tour, and is a former team physician for the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.
He is a professor of surgery in clinical orthopedics at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also the author of more than 100 articles and book chapters on conditions that affect the shoulder, elbow, and knee.
From an early age, Altchek knew he wanted to be an orthopedic surgeon. He even would go on Saturday morning rounds with his father who was an orthopedic surgeon. When it came time for college, he went to Columbia University and then earned his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College.
He then went on to do his residency a fellowship in sports medicine and shoulder surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery.
He has also been awarded the John Jay Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement, the highest honor given to Columbia University alumni, and the T. Campbell Thompson Prize for Excellence in Orthopedic Surgery from Cornell University.
In 2003, the Association of American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons recognized Altchek with the Charles S. Neer Award, which honors outstanding clinical and basic science research that has contributed to a better understanding, care, and prevention of shoulder injuries.
