A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ORTHO?

AOI—Advanced Orthopedics Institute—is a different kind of orthopedics practice with a wildly different approach to the ways they treat their patients. It is the brainchild of its two founding physicians: Dr. John Williams Jr. and Dr. Alfred Cook Jr. Prior to AOI, the two met at another medical group and just hit it off. According to Dr. Williams, “We found out pretty quickly we had so many things in common. We had the same personality traits, the same interests. We’d go fishing together. Our wives became friends. And we’d just hang out. But more importantly, we had the same philosophy when it came to the way we wanted to practice medicine.”

“We take a holistic approach to orthopedics,” says Dr. John Williams Jr. “I have never heard of another orthopedics practice that does that.”

Dr. Alfred Cook Jr. adds, “Taking a holistic approach means that we look at, not just the problem a patient may be having, but how that problem is affecting their whole quality of life...If a person comes in with a rotator cuff tear, you can see that on an MRI and you can fix it. However, images are one thing. At AOI, we never forget there’s a person behind that image.”

Dr. Williams puts it even more succinctly. “We don’t treat MRIs. We treat patients.”

“What we mean is,” explains Dr. Cook, “one patient with a particular injury may say, ‘I can’t golf, I can’t play pickle-ball, I can’t sleep.’ That patient’s life is upended and he will be a good candidate for surgery. Another patient with the exact same injury may say ‘You know, it really doesn’t bother me. I know it’s a problem but I feel okay. I can still do what I want to do.’ That patient will probably benefit from a more conservative treatment option.”

“As a matter of fact,” says Dr. Williams, “most of our patients never opt for surgery. Probably 20 percent—one in five—ultimately take that route. And it is totally their decision. We present all treatment options, starting with the most conservative and ending on surgery as a last resort. But it is ultimately the patient’s decision, not ours. The next time I talk a patient into an operation will be the first time.”

“One thing about our approach at AOI is that we are persistent,” Dr. Williams continues. “Some orthopedic surgeons take a shotgun approach. They try a little this, a little that. They do the surgery. But if the patient still has a problem they’ll be done. ‘Nothing else we can do for you.’ That’s not us. We take everything into account. The person’s lifestyle, all of our treatment modalities—and we have a lot of them. We will do all we can and keep trying to give a patient the very best quality of life for their situation.”