Jan Szatkowski, MD, was appointed director of the trauma division, and Patrick Siparsky, MD, took on the role of sports medicine division director.
Walter Virkus, MD, led the orthopaedic trauma division for 10 years before passing the torch to Szatkowski this fall. Virkus oversaw immense growth and success in patient care, innovative research, and fellowship-level education. He remains the vice chair of the department and a professor of orthopaedic surgery for Indiana University School of Medicine. He was appointed Vice President of Operating Room Optimization at IU Health.
Of his successor, Virkus said, “Jan is the perfect person to take over the leadership of our phenomenal team of physicians, APPs, fellows, and research coordinators. He is widely respected by both provider teams and staff alike. We look forward to Jan providing a new energy to the team and leading it to even greater things."
Szatkowski is a dual fellowship-trained orthopaedic trauma and foot and ankle surgeon. He studied at Duke University as an undergraduate and attended medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; and fellowships in orthopaedic trauma at Campbell Clinic-University of Tennessee and foot and ankle at Campbell Clinic-University of Tennessee.
Szatkowski is an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery for IU School of Medicine and an associate director of the department’s residency program. He said he is eager to build upon the incredible foundation and leadership of Virkus.
“I feel honored to be the new director for the trauma division,” he said. “I am privileged to work with the best people in the field from the nurses, therapists, medical assistants, advanced practice providers, and surgeons.
“The IU Ortho Trauma team is hands down the best team in the country at dealing with complex injuries both regionally and nationally. As the new director my role is to build upon the solid foundation of the group as a regional and national program and deliver outstanding care to the communities we serve.”
Siparsky joined the department’s sports medicine division in 2019 and has made a great impact in the last few years.
Siparsky, who earned his medical degree at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 2007, has played an essential role in leading the department’s partnership with IU Athletics to be the exclusive care provider to all Big Ten student-athletes in Bloomington.
In the fall of 2021, the department announced an exclusive 10-year partnership to provide medical care to IU student-athletes in Bloomington. Siparsky along with faculty member Joshua Everhart, MD, leads this effort. The first year of the partnership was a great success, Siparsky said, and faculty members are eager for the same great experience in the second athletic season in 2022-23.
The budding relationship between the division and IU Athletics – perfecting it and ensuring its success – remains an important focus for the sports medicine division going forward, he said. And while faculty-physicians work to support all IU student-athletes, they’ll continue to provide unmatched patient care to all who visit their clinics.
