Charles Su, MD
Orthopedic Surgery
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 (2016)
- Residency
- Case Western Reserve University (2021)
- Fellowship
- The Steadman Clinic (2022)
- Certification
- American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (Orthopaedic Surgery)
- Additional Specialties
- Orthopedic Sports Medicine
Highlights
Meet Orthopedic Surgeon Charles Su, MD
My name is Charles Su. I'm one of the orthopedic sports surgeons here at UVA Health, and I specialize in the treatment of knee, shoulder, and hip injuries. So I developed an interest in medicine beginning at a very young age. I've always grown up really admiring and looking up to physicians. My mom and my grandfather were both physicians and were really positive role models to me growing up, and they exemplified this idea of a compassionate, selfless physician. Orthopedic sports medicine is my specialty, and it really stood out to me because of the types of patients that I get to interact with. They're largely really active patients from high school and younger, all the way to older patients who are in their 70s and 80s who are continuing to exercise and maintain a healthy lifestyle and being able to partner with my patients and get them back to the activities that they love is really rewarding, and that's what gets me excited to come to work every day. So I think UVA Health is really at the forefront of clinical care, research, surgical techniques, and education, and so I think that's really what sets our institution apart, and the providers here at UVA Health are really the national and international leaders in orthopedic surgery, so I think it's a fantastic institution to receive care.
Awards
- 2022 Outstanding Fellow Teaching Award
- 2022 Clinical Science Fellow Award for Outstanding Research
- 2015 Alpha Omega Alpha
Reviews
485 Patient Satisfaction Ratings
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