Dr. Eddie Wu, a fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon who works out of Premier Orthopaedic Associates, got interested in a medical career while recovering from a high school knee injury playing basketball.

Let’s be honest. Howie Roseman and his staff have done a tremendous job putting this Eagles team together. But getting quarterback Carson Wentz on the field to discover he has a real chance to be a franchise quarterback did not happen the way it was planned.

A series of events unfolded that led to what is happening right now and the Birds are glad they followed the path that was put in front of themselves…almost by chance.

How many times have unassuming turns in our lives unfold into a future you never saw coming?
Dr. Eddie Wu, a fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon who works out of Premier Orthopaedic Associates of South Jersey did not aspire to be a surgeon as a youth.

Did Dr. Wu find his passion or did it find him?

Dr. Wu was enjoying a pleasant childhood growing up in Central New Jersey. He was and still is a serious basketball fan and even played hoops for four years at Marlboro High School in Marlboro, NJ.
One day at practice with the Mustangs, Wu suffered a knee injury that would change the course of his life.

“Looking back, I had originally gone to school, to college, to study physical therapy,” Dr. Wu said recently. “The reason I got into that was because of my knee. I had injured my knee, I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) when I was 17 playing basketball.”

Dr. Wu said he was conflicted with his love of sports and his father’s career as am engineer.

“Actually going into college, I remember my dad would always say to me ‘you’ve got to have a plan.’ I said ‘I don’t know, I guess I’ll be and engineer because you’re an engineer.’

“My dad was and engineer. I had no idea what types of engineers there were. I had no direction.
So all of a sudden the knee injury happened and I started to do rehab. Rehab back then was pretty intense. Similar to what it is now but maybe a little more difficult time-wise, we have rapid recovery protocol now.”

During his long rehab, Dr. Wu was drawn to idea of getting into the medical field as his main focus in college.

“Back then (rehab sessions) were three or times a week for six months to rehab the knee,” Dr. Wu recalled. “I thought ‘this therapy thing is kind of neat. I decided to apply to go to school for a Physical Therapy degree.”

One of the courses he took at the beginning allowed to go to the operating room and watch various related surgeries performed.

“I thought that was pretty neat, I had never seen surgery performed,” Dr. Wu said. “Ironically one of the surgeries I saw was for a a total knee replacement. I remember the surgeon, who is scheduled to retire now, Dr. Manuel Banzon, who still works in my hometown, made me stand in a corner. I really couldn’t see what was going on. You don’t want to get too close to the sterile field. All I could do was stand in the corner and watch. But that really got me hooked.”

Dr. Wu said at that point he made a decision and shared his thoughts with his family.

“I went home and I remember telling my mom, ‘you know what? I think I am going to try and go to medical school after physical therapy school,” Dr. Wu said. “It kind of snowballed from there, I got into medical school and got my degree.”

Indeed he did.

After graduating summa cum laude with a Master’s degree in physical therapy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, Dr. Wu went on to obtain his medical degree at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine (UMDNJ-SOM).

He completed both his internship and residency in orthopedic surgery at UMDNJ-SOM. Afterwards, Dr. Wu completed a fellowship in Adult Reconstruction at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedic-Center for Joint Preservation and Replacement at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. He has authored/co-authored several journal articles and book chapters in the orthopaedic literature.

All that from tearing his ACL playing basketball.

Eddie S. Wu, DO, MPT is now a fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon who specializes in total hip and knee replacements with Premier Orthopaedic Associates.

Dr. Wu said hip and knee replacement training go hand-in-hand.

“I was always set on hip and knee replacements,” Dr. Wu said. “It’s usually both. When you go to fellowship training, it’s always both.”

These kinds of surgeries, in past were almost always for very senior citizens. But advances in the products orthopedic surgeon use today last much longer and techniques over time are better including the use of robotic surgery to assist today’s surgeons.

Are patients getting younger?

“They are,” Dr. Wu said. “Typically the patient is in his or her early 60s. Of course I have patients now who are in their 40s for a knee replacement. It’s not just people in their 80s, it’s not like that anymore. We get people in the 40s 50s and 60s. That’s a pretty good job in my mind.”

Knee and hip replacement manufacturers have been coming up with advance that the products are lasting much longer.

Younger people are seeking relief at a younger age because the concerns of having hip or knee surgery in 10 of 15 years is pretty much gone.

“That’s one of the reasons,” Dr. Wu said. “the products are lasting longer. Also patients are more active with their joints and that helps. The indications for doing a hip replacement are expanding. The bearings, the parts we’re using are engineered to last longer. We have a better understanding of positioning. The things that made them fail sooner, we’re able to identify a little better and help prevent early failure.”

What is the future for hip and knee replacements?

“The future is bright,” said Dr. Wu, who lists the Knicks, Nets and Sixers as the main NBA teams he follows. “The implants are lasting longer, The biggest part in advancement in hip and knee replacement is understanding complications better than when we were implanting. We have a better understanding of complications and how to handle them, that’s No. 1.
No.2, the assistance of robotic surgery is a big, exciting innovation that helps put the component in a more accurate and precise position. Also patients are younger and recovering faster and able to do the things they can get back to.”

Dr. Wu says he believes in treating his patients on an individual basis and tailoring his or her treatment plan accordingly. With his background in physical therapy, Dr. Wu strives to restore and maximize function through the most current evidence-based non-surgical and surgical techniques in each patient. Dr. Wu brings the most current advancements in the field of adult joint reconstruction and his dedication to the people of Southern New Jersey. He is also fluent in Mandarin.

Dr. Wu followed the path put in front of him fearlessly and the world is a better place because he did.