what it's really like to treat elite professional athletes and celebrities

Welcome to the latest edition of orthohub stories, where we explore the life stories and journeys of remarkable people.

In this episode we find out all about what its really like to treat elite professional athletes, celebrities and VIPs.

Our distinguished guest is Andy Williams.

Andy is an orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in the management of sporting knee injuries. He has developed a unique practice and works with many elite sports teams across English Premier League football, Premiership Rugby and more.

He is also an Honorary Reader at Imperial College London where he undertakes research into knee injuries. Andy has published over 150 scientific articles and lectures internationally on knee surgery. He is a member of the prestigious ACL Study Group, the Herodicus Society and was lead editor for the 39th edition of Gray's Anatomy.

In this wide-ranging conversation we cover many different aspects of his life and career including:

his childhood and how medicine was not even considered an option growing up
and how being a builder was his fall-back option
his initial plans to become a GP (family doctor) and how he ended up in orthopaedic surgery instead
overcoming impostor syndrome
how he got into sports knee injuries and treating professional sportspeople
the pressures and challenges (and joys!) of treating this special group of individuals
managing stress and complications
how he handles pressure and coping mechanisms
the value of pre-operative planning and the power of visualisation
how do athletes differ from your non-elite athlete patients
ethical dilemmas in managing professional athletes
why physiotherapy / physical therapy and rehab is the magic ingredient
why he commits so much time to research, teaching and lecturing
key mentors who have directly and indirectly shaped his life and career
and poor behaviours he has seen within the medical profession
his work ethic and attention to detail
the impact on his family of his work and career
and what one thing would he change if he could do it all again