Faculty and Staff
David E Westberry
| Title: | Clinical Professor |
| Orthopaedics | |
| School of Medicine Greenville | |
| E-mail: | dwestberry@shrinenet.org |
| Phone: | 864-255-7872 |
| Office: | 950 West Faris Road Greenville SC 29605 |
Bio
| Background: | I was born and raised in a small southern town in Georgia. Both of my parents were public school educators and imparted to me very early in my life the importance of hard work and doing well in academics. Living in a small town amongst a close-knit community, many of the local physicians were friends of the family or members of our church. As a high school student, I was able to interact with some of the physicians and developed an early interest in the field of medicine. One of the local physicians was raised in our hometown and returned after orthopedic training to establish his orthopedic practice. He allowed me to shadow and observe surgery on several occasions. This is where my interest in orthopedic surgery originated. After attending the University of Georgia and completing medical school in Augusta, I was fortunate to obtain an orthopedic residency training position in Greenville, South Carolina. After completion of residency, I elected to return to my hometown for a brief period to practice general orthopedics. It became very clear to me that general orthopedics would be challenging given the magnitude of subspecialty advancement. During my residency, I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville. My older brother was diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy at an early age and it was at the Shriners Hospital where I was able to engage with other children having similar conditions. This experience led to an interest in subspecializing as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Fortunately, I was able to return to Greenville to complete a fellowship at the Shriners Hospital after which we remained in Greenville for private practice and then subsequent transition to the medical staff at Shriners Hospital. Another individual during my high school days was a physician who was the local obstetrician and a member of our church. I recall a presentation he gave after a month long mission trip to Africa where he served in a rural mission hospital. His experience influenced me significantly, and even at that age, looked forward to serving in underserved areas as a physician. Over the past years, I have had the opportunity to travel alone, with family, and with other physicians to serve in other countries. This has been a very rewarding portion of my career as a physician. |
| Teaching Interest(s): | At our hospital, we are fortunate to have residents from various training programs as well as nurse practitioners, medical assistants, and physician assistants. We treat a wide variety of orthopedic pathology and I enjoy teaching all of the medical support staff when possible. My current practice and teaching interests include treatment of congenital foot deformity, gait deviation related to cerebral palsy, upper extremity deformities, and congenital limb deficiencies. |
| Research Interest(s): | 1. Gait deviation secondary to cerebral palsy and other neuromuscular conditions. 2. Foot deformity and its relation to dynamic loading. 3. Outcomes of hip reconstruction in neuromuscular hip dysplasia as it relates to cerebral palsy. |
| Honors & Awards: | Finalist, Greenville News Best of the Upstate Mark Silverman Global Heart Award |
| Professional Affiliations: | Christian Medical and Dental Association Member American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Member American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery Member Association of Children's Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinics Member Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America South Carolina Orthopaedic Association Member |