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Charles Su, MD,  PhD
Accepting New Patients
UVA Health Provider

Charles Su, MD, PhD

Orthopedic Surgery

Primary Location
Today's Hours: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Primary Phone Number
Fax Number
434.244.4454

Additional Locations

Bio & Overview

Charles A. Su, MD, PhD, is an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon who cares for a wide range of active individuals and athletes. He specializes in hip, shoulder, and knee surgery and serves as the team physician for James Madison University athletics and Monticello High School.

When caring for his patients, Dr. Su takes a team approach “by listening and understanding exactly what my patient's symptoms are, how it affects them, and ultimately what their goals are,” he shares. “Although I perform surgery, often an operation is the last option after we have tried numerous non-operative modalities. My job is to partner with my patients to get them back to the activities they enjoy at as high of a level as we can.”

Dr. Su graduated summa cum laude with honors from Case Western Reserve University with a B.S. in biology, B.A. in psychology, and a minor in chemistry. During his undergraduate years, he received a Howard Hughes medical institute research grant for his work in hematology. After college, he was accepted into the combined MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program at Case Western. Here, he completed his PhD thesis in transplantation immunology at the Cleveland Clinic.

He performed cardiac transplants in a mouse model and evaluated methods to prolong graft survival. He was recognized for this work with a Young Investigator Award from the American Transplant Congress. He shares, “While I was initially planning on pursuing transplant surgery, I quickly fell in love with orthopedic surgery during my 3rd-year clinical rotations.”

Dr. Su graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha honors from medical school and joined the residency program at University Hospitals/Case Western. Following residency, Dr. Su completed his orthopedic sports fellowship training at the world-renowned Steadman Clinic/Steadman Philippon Research Institute in Vail, Colorado. There he was able to provide care for the United States Olympic Ski and Snowboard team and train with some of the top thought leaders in orthopedic sports.

During his fellowship year, he also won the top Clinical Science Fellow Award for outstanding research as well as the Outstanding Fellow Teaching Award.

His current research interests include clinical outcomes, biologic therapies, and the natural history of hip impingement and development of osteoarthritis.

Academic Information

Department
Orthopedic Surgery
Academic Role
Assistant Professor
Division
Orthopedics-Sports Medicine

Conditions & Treatments

  • Acromioclavicular joint separation
  • Anterior cruciate ligament (acl) tear
  • Avulsion
  • Biceps tendonitis
  • Hamstring injury
  • Hip impingement
  • Hip labral tear
  • Lateral collateral ligament tear
  • Medial collateral ligament (mcl) tear
  • Medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction
  • Meniscus tear
  • Patella tendon tear
  • Patellar instability
  • Quadriceps femoris muscle tear
  • Rotator cuff disorders
  • Rotator cuff injury
  • Shoulder dislocation
  • Shoulder instability
  • Shoulder labral tear
  • Slap tear
Gender
Male
Languages
English
Age Groups Seen
Adults (21-65)
Older Adults (65+)
Primary Education
Case Western Reserve University
Residency
Case Western Reserve University
Fellowships
The Steadman Clinic
Certification
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (Orthopaedic Surgery)
Additional Specialties
Orthopedic Sports Medicine

Highlights

Awards

  • 2022 Outstanding Fellow Teaching Award
  • 2022 Clinical Science Fellow Award for Outstanding Research
  • 2015 Alpha Omega Alpha

Reviews

386 Patient Satisfaction Ratings

Our patient satisfaction ratings are an average of all the survey responses to the below questions a provider got within the past 2 years. To protect your privacy, patients aren't identified.

See more about our patient satisfaction surveys .

Overall
4.6 Out of 5
Provider showed concern
Provider explained things clearly
Provider included you in decisions
Provider discussed treatment options
Likelihood of recommending this provider

51 Patient Comments

Reviewed on
Unfortunately, when Dr. Su came in, he very much rushed through the x-rays that were taken and didn't really give me the time to process exactly what he was saying. For reference, I've had extreme right hip pain since the age of 12 and am now 20 and after going through hoops with my pcp and other doctors, I finally got an mri scheduled, looking to hopefully find some answers. Unfortunately, my mri was not explained to me very well and was brushed through very fast, mainly focusing on the X-rays taken that day, even though I have consistently gotten X-rays of this area. I was looking forward to finally finding a solution to my pain, however, I was told it was my weight that was causing this pain and that all of the steps that I had taken before hand were not correct, or not working the way that was intended. I understand that Dr. Su has many patients, but I very much wasted my time on coming to this doctor, as I live 3 hours away. This was a rushed appointment.
Reviewed on
Great experience
Reviewed on
Dr Su explained everything thoroughly and gave me extreme optimism going forward! I feel so fortunate to have his expertise
Reviewed on
My experience was excellent, other than having to wait 5 weeks to get in.
Reviewed on
I always tell people to go to UVA
Reviewed on
The Physician Dr. Su said my condition was "Quite Rare" and he was not sure how he could help me yet. He said he was going to discuss my case with Colleagues and do some research, and get back to me.