Amanda Wilde (Host): Meet Col. Todd P. Balog, a new Orthopedic Surgeon with St. Clair Medical Group. We'll talk about how his experiences treating four star generals and fighter pilots in the Army, translates to a return to his family's Pittsburgh roots. A look at joint replacement surgery on this episode of Curating Care, a podcast brought to you by St. Clair Health, expert care from people who care. I'm Amanda Wilde and joining me is Dr. Todd Balog, Orthopedic Surgeon here at St. Clair Health. Dr. Balog, it's great to have you.

Todd P. Balog, MD: Thank you so much. It's great to be with you all today.

Host: You have transitioned back to Pittsburgh and you have transitioned back to civilian life. Let's start though at the beginning. Your education at West Point was the beginning of your military career and then you later served in the 82nd Airborne. You deployed to Iraq and Korea. How did those experiences shape your decision to pursue medical school through the military?

Todd P. Balog, MD: Well, when I first graduated from West Point, I wasn't quite ready yet to do any additional schooling, medical school, certainly. So I commissioned as an infantry officer back in 1999. So I served in that role for six years. And that included, a deployment to Iraq with the 82nd Airborne. That was my primary unit, in 2003 for the invasion part of the conflict. So being over there in Iraq, I had a firsthand look at the medical care that the Army surgeons and physicians were providing, saw some pretty horrific injuries, but it was amazing the job that the surgeons and teams were able to do to not only stabilize the soldiers out on the field, but then eventually get them back to the United States, recovered to the best of their ability, with an amazing wound survival rate. So that piqued my interest in medical care. I was looking at staying in the army. I enjoyed my time, enjoyed the soldiers and everything else that went along with it.

So for me, it was a no brainer that if I was going to transition to the medical route, that Iwould do it through the military and then go ahead and stay in the military. It was what I knew and it was what I enjoyed.

Host: And somehow you met your wife as well in the military.

Todd P. Balog, MD: Yes. She grew up, local to Pittsburgh and Beaver Falls, went to Riverside high school and she went to the United States Military Academy as military academy as well. And she was one year behind me. And we got married after she graduated here in Sewickley, Pennsylvania. So her and I have been on this journey together through the army for 25 years.

And in her own right, she served six years active duty to include a overseas tour in Afghanistan as well. So we're both very fortunate to have the experiences we had in the army and both very proud of the, the things we were able to do and the people that we were able to work with and and that community we were a part of.

Host: You're now officially off active duty, but you're in the reserves and you were deployed to Syria last year and randomly assigned to a team that came out of Erie, Pennsylvania, right?

Todd P. Balog, MD: Right. Yeah, that was really a interesting experience and total coincidence. I was in my last year on the active duty army. I knew that I was going to transition in the coming year. And had requested a one last deployment, was randomly assigned to the 624th forward, surgical and resuscitative team based out of Erie. And I spent four and a half months with them in Syria. And during that timeframe, I was going through my initial applications and actually some interviews as well. My first interview was St. Clair was when I was downrange in Syria.

And of course, everyone in the unit was encouraging me to come to Pennsylvania. They're all from here. And it was their number one option for where I ended up. So it's been really, really special. I've had a couple of drill weekends with them and it's kind of like a reunion, being back with the same folks that I was overseas with. So that was a really neat coincidence of who I served with and being able to come back full circle, still stay in the army with that experience, but also transition to a civilian life as well.

Host: When you found your medical calling, as you said, you were, you piqued your interest when you saw people being saved in such advanced ways and wound care. But how did you choose joint replacement?

Todd P. Balog, MD: I think with joint replacement, it's just an opportunity to be able to have a real significant impact on a person's life and to be able to do it within a couple of hours. And really restore them to a level of function that they haven't been in before. I think all of the medical specialties are hugely important, beneficial to patients, but I wanted something where I could go in and physically do something that would then reliably give them an improvement in their quality of life and their ability to function. And joint replacements in particular, give me that opportunity.

Host: To help people increase mobility, help reduce pain.

Todd P. Balog, MD: It's all part of that. I think pain is different for everybody and pain can certainly affect all facets of life. For some people, it keeps them from doing activities they want to do. Other people, it keeps them from hanging out and playing with their grandkids. For some people, pain, it just really affects their overall mental health as well. And we have patients coming in with severe arthritis in their hip or their knee, and maybe they've been limited and bothered by it for years. And to be able to in one office visit, go over their radiographs, get to know them, get their whole story, and then offer them a surgery that has the potential to take away their pain and return them to a previous level of function; it can change everything. It can change their outlook on life, their ability to function, how they interact with their family, their partners. It's really neat to be able to be a part of that and to be able to offer that to people.

Host: It's life changing work.

Todd P. Balog, MD: It is. For a lot of patients, it changes their life.

Host: Now, you've also worked in teaching based environments. You've been a professor. Tell me a little more about those experiences and how that informs you now as an Orthopedic Surgeon.

Todd P. Balog, MD: So at my last assignment in the Army, I was assigned to Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, and we had a residency program there. So we, we had three residents per year for a five year training program. So as part of that, I was on the faculty for the residents, and that's through the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, which is the military medical school that I attended. So it's been a lot of fun and enjoyable to be a part of my own medical school as a professor. And that pretty much entailed having a resident with me all the time, both in the operating room and in clinic. And it really forces you to stay on top of everything, stay on top of your game because the residents are coming in with lots of questions and the expectation is I'm going to teach them how to do these surgeries and how to do them safely efficiently and how to do them very well.

So it really forces you to stay on top of all the recent literature, all the recent research and techniques, and just be on the top of your game. So you can then impart that knowledge to the next generation.

Host: The technical advancements always seem to be happening faster and faster and these robotics and less invasive surgeries really make a difference for patients. What are you looking forward to for the future, as you work in joint replacement surgery at St. Clair Health?

Todd P. Balog, MD: You're absolutely right. The technology continues to advance and in joint replacement specifically, it's a continuously evolving process. I can tell you that the way I do things today are vastly different than the way I may have done things six years ago. And that's certainly a trend that I continue to do, to bring the latest and the most up to date level of care to the patients. So for joint replacement specifically, I think that most of us heavily transitioned to same day surgery for a lot of the patients. And specifically here at St. Clair, we've got this wonderful new facility, the Dunlap Family Outpatient Center, with 10 operating rooms that are up to date and brand new, so we're looking at starting to do outpatient joint replacements over here in Dunlap this upcoming month.

 From a technology side of the house, we're bringing in equipment for our anterior hip replacements that utilizes artificial intelligence to help precisely position the components, for those hip replacements, which I think is only going to lead to improved outcomes for the patients. And finally, you, you did hit on robotics technology, and that's something that I had actually brought to Tripler about 18 months ago.

I was able to acquire a robotic platform that we utilized for our hip and knee replacements at Tripler. And that's something that St. Clair is currently in the process of looking into to, to potentially bring to St. Clair in the future. So I think all of these are technological advances and just advances in, in how we do surgery and how we care for patients, both preoperatively and postoperatively that are just looking to make this a smoother process and a more efficient and accurate process for everrybody.

Host: So, that is definitely something to know when choosing an Orthopedic Surgeon. We want someone just like you, who has stayed on top of the latest advances and the latest research. Western Pennsylvania has a thriving healthcare sector. With your background, you did have options, but what factors made St. Clair the best choice for you?

Todd P. Balog, MD: I had a real just frank and honest discussion with Saint Clair in and the direction that they wanted to head with their joint replacement program. It coincided with exactly what I would envision for a future. Saint Clair has done a lot of work in the last couple of years to institute same, calendar day discharge with the joint replacements, had just invested the resources and the funds to build the Dunlap Family Outpatient Center.

So their vision where they wanted to continue to grow the arthroplasty program was exactly what I wanted to see happen. So I think that the marriage between their vision and my vision is what led me to really want to come to St. Clair to be a part of that and hopefully to continue to, to grow it, to meet the needs of the local population.

Host: Lastly, Dr. Balog, you've conducted joint replacement surgery on four star generals and fighter pilots who've gone on not just to get better, but to thrive in the next phase of their lives. And as you just described, that is your goal. How does your expertise translate to patients here in the South Hills?

Todd P. Balog, MD: I think the surgery is the same for no matter who you're operating on. And I've been fortunate in my past career to, to be able to interact with pretty high powered, high ranking officers to veterans who were just trying to get out of pain and, and get back to work. And I think that the experience and the expertise I was able to gain by working with that population, will directly transfer to the population that we have here in the South Hills. I've been coming back with my wife to Pittsburgh usually every year for years, and we've always remarked at how, how friendly, how blue collar, how hardworking everyone in this community is.

And, it's certainly a community that resembles in terms of the work ethic and just the integrity, the kind of people we've been used to being around in, in the military communities. So we've been excited about that and the goal with joint replacement, regardless of who the person is or what they do is to take away pain and restore function.

And I think it works just as well for a retiree who's trying to get back on the golf course to a 50 something year old person who's trying to get back to work.

Host: Well, Dr. Balog, thank you so much for your insights, your expertise, and your life changing work and welcome home.

Todd P. Balog, MD: Thank you. It's good to be here in Pittsburgh permanently. And my wife and I are both excited about continuing to lay down roots and, and be a part of the community.

Host: That was Dr. Todd Balog, Orthopedic Surgeon at St. Clair Health. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Balog at stclair.org. If you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social media and check out our entire podcast library for topics of interest to you. This is Curating Care, a podcast from St. Clair Health.