Personal info
I was born in 1970 in Canada and moved to the US in 1973 and I became a US citizen in 1977. I lived in Maine until going to high school in Vermont and then college in Colorado where I majored in philosophy. I graduated with honors (AOA) from Dartmouth Medical School in 1999. I did my training at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program. I was the administrative chief orthopaedic resident at Massachusetts General Hospital in my senior year. After that I completed a fellowship at the Brigham and Women’s hospital finishing in 2004.
Athletic career
Prior to going to college and then medical school, I was a professional athlete. I was a member of the US Ski Team from 1987 to 1992 and I competed in the 1991 World Championships and the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, where I was the top American finisher in 20th place. I retired right after the Olympics at age 22 to start on the long path of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. Since then I have been an avid distance runner throughout residency to the present.
I live with my wife and kids near Concord, NH. Apart from orthopaedics, my primary academic interests are the philosophy of science, epistemology, and the cognitive psychology and epistemology of medical decision making.
Baroque lute
Other than thinking about orthopaedic decision making and how cognitive biases can be mitigated, my primary hobby is that I am a baroque lutenist specializing in the repertoire of the 18th century virtuoso lutenist Sylvius Leopold Weiss. You can hear some of my recordings through this link: soundcloud.com/baroquelute
General aviation
I have been a pilot since 1988. I have recently renewed my lifelong interest in flying and have accumulated hundreds of hours of flying experience including getting high performance and complex aircraft endorsements. I became IFR certified In March of 2023. I fly Cessna 172s, 182s, and Beechcraft Bonanza A36TC and B36TC airplanes.
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Rob Parisien, MD, FAAOS
Orthopaedic surgeon in Manchester, NH. Specializing in adult and pediatric orthopaedic trauma surgery, with sub-speciality focus on total shoulder arthroplasty and reconstruction. Research interest in the cognitive psychology of medical decision making.
ORTHOPAEDIC TRAUMA, ELLIOT HOSPITAL
‣ Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (FAAOS)
‣ Orthopaedic trauma surgery 9/2010 to present
‣ Elliot Hospital, Manchester, New Hampshire
‣ Orthopaedic Trauma Association Clinical Member since 2013
‣ Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery, Elliot Hospital, elected 2014. Re-elected 2016
‣ Named Elliot Hospital “Physician of the Year” in 2014
ORTHOPAEDIC TRAUMA AND SPORTS MEDICINE, MAINE ORTHOPAEDIC CENTER — 2005-2010
‣ Maine Orthopaedic Center, P.A. 1/2005 to 8/2010
‣ Orthopaedic trauma and fracture surgery. Level 1 trauma call coverage at Maine Medical Center
‣ Sports medicine, focusing on all aspects of shoulder surgery
‣ Total Joint Arthroplasty: knee, hip, and shoulder, including a focus on reverse shoulder arthroplasty
‣ Covering orthopaedic surgeon for Portland Pirates professional hockey team
‣ US Ski Team physician since 2007. Traveled with US Ski Team to Slovenia in 2007
Post Graduate Medical Education
HARVARD BRIGHAM SPORTS MEDICINE FELLOWSHIP — 2004
‣ Sports medicine fellow at Brigham and Women’s hospital in association with Harvard Orthopaedic Residency from 7/2004-1/2005
‣ Staff surgeon at the Veterans Affairs Hospital system, Boston, Massachusetts. Duties included teaching Harvard and Boston University Orthopaedic Residents
‣ Level 1 trauma call coverage at Brigham and Women’s hospital
‣ Advanced arthroscopic techniques, shoulder arthroplasty, reverse shoulder arthroplasty, and trauma.
HARVARD COMBINED ORTHOPAEDIC RESIDENCY PROGRAM — 2000-2004
‣ Chief Orthopaedic Resident at Massachusetts General Hospital 1/2004-6/2004
‣ Orthopaedic Surgery Resident from 7/2000-6/2004
‣ Clinical Fellow in Surgery at Harvard Medical School
‣ Awarded best clinical research paper of class of 2004 during resident thesis day, 5/5/2004
‣ Scored 99th percentile in ABOS examination, July 2004
HARVARD GENERAL SURGERY INTERNSHIP — 1999-2000
‣ General surgery resident at Beth Israel Deaconess hospital 6/1999– 6/2000
‣ Clinical Fellow in Surgery at Harvard Medical School
Undergraduate and Graduate Education
DARTMOUTH MEDICAL SCHOOL — 1995-1999
‣ Doctor of Medicine 1999
‣ Graduated with Honors
‣ AOA Honor Society
‣ Syvertsen scholar award for academic excellence
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO — 1990-1995
‣ Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
‣ Graduated with Honors
Publications and Research
‣ Janssen S, Teunis T, , Ring D, Parisien R. Cognitive Biases in Orthopaedic Surgery. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: July 15, 2021 - Volume 29 - Issue 14 - p 624-633 doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-20-00620
‣ Teunis T, Janssen S, Guitton TG, Ring D, Parisien R. Do Orthopaedic Surgeons Acknowledge Uncertainty? Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2015 Nov 9.
‣ Doornberg J, Parisien R, van Duijn J, Ring D. Radial Head Arthroplasty with a Modular Metal Spacer to Treat Acute Traumatic Elbow Instability. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2007;89:1075-1080
‣ Parisien RC, Tomford WT, Zurakowski D, Patel DG. Long-term outcome of Allograft Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. Harvard Orthopaedic Residency Thesis.
‣ Awarded the Barrett family prize for the Best clinical research paper of the Harvard Orthopaedic chief residents, 2004
‣ Accepted for poster presentation, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, Washington, DC 2/2005
‣ Parisien RC, Doornberg J, Ring DC. Fracture-dislocations of the elbow: Replacement of the fractured radial head with a modular metal prosthesis. Presented at Orthopaedic Trauma Association annual meeting, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 10/2004
‣ Cashen DV, Parisien RC, Raskin K, Hornicek FJ, Gebhardt MC, Mankin HJ. Survival Data for Patients with Malignant Schwannoma. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 2004;426:69-73
‣ Parisien RC, Ball PA. Historical Perspective: William Jason Mixter 1880-1959. Ushering in the Dynasty of the Disc. Spine. 1998;21:2363-66
‣ Parisien RC. Creative Classical Guitar Creative Concepts Publishing Co., Ojai, California. 1993
Research Interests
PHILOSOPHY AND COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
‣ Epistemology of medicine and surgery
‣ Cognitive psychology in medical decision making
‣ "Cognitive biases and heuristics in orthopaedic surgery"
‣ Presentation given at the New England Orthopaedic Society meeting Boston, 11/18/2016
‣ Grand Rounds presentation at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Orthopaedics Grand Rounds, 2/22/17
‣ Grand Rounds presentation at the Johns Hopkins Orthopaedic Department Hospital Grand Rounds, 2018
‣ Grand Rounds presentation at the Elliot Hospital, Manchester, NH July 2022
‣ Grand Rounds presentation at the Lahey Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Burlington, MA Fall 2022
‣ Grand Rounds presentation at the Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, PA April 2023
Current projects (2024 —)
‣ Survey of cognitive biases and heuristics in orthopaedic surgery (ongoing study) and a study of biases in medicine across sub-specialties (ongoing)
‣ Bayesian reasoning in clinical orthopaedics (ongoing survey)
‣ Vagueness and the Sorites Paradox regarding fracture healing (ongoing survey)
‣ Philosophy of Science as it applies to medicine and medical decision making
‣ Philosophy of David Hume and Empiricism
‣ Naturalized Epistemology as it applies to medical decision making
Memberships and Licenses
‣ Board certified in Orthopaedic Surgery, 1st certified in 2007 ‣ Re-certified in 2016
‣ Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
‣ Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
‣ Member of Orthopaedic Trauma Association
‣ Member of AO Trauma association
‣ New Hampshire medical license
Athletic Career
UNITED STATES OLYMPIC TEAM
‣ 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France
‣ 20th place in Men’s Giant Slalom, best American finish
UNITED STATES WORLD ALPINE CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM MEMBER
‣ 1991 World Alpine Skiing Championships in Saalbach, Austria
‣ 25th place in Men’s Giant Slalom, best American finish
UNITED STATES SKI TEAM MEMBER
‣ World Cup, Europa Cup, and North American series teams 1987-1992
OTHER SKI RACING CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
‣ 1st place in Canadian National Giant Slalom Championships 1990
‣ 4th place in U.S. National Championship Giant Slalom at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 1989
‣ 5th place in Pan American Games Giant Slalom at Las Lenas, Argentina, 1990
‣ 7th place in Junior World Championship Giant Slalom at Madonna Di Campiglio, Italy, 1988
‣ 9th place in Junior World Championship Slalom at Alyeska, Alaska, 1989
‣ 11th place in Pan American Games Super Giant Slalom at Las Lenas, Argentina, 1990
‣ Elected into Maine Ski Hall of Fame, 2014
Other Interests:
BAROQUE LUTE
‣ Performance of works of S.L. Weiss, J.S. Bach, and other Baroque-era composers
‣ Baroque lute design and construction
‣ Member of the Lute Society of America
‣ Recording artist, CD forthcoming
ZEN BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
‣ Philosophy and Psychology (not religious aspects) of Soto Zen
‣ Zazen practice
RUNNING
‣ Distance running. Marathon PR 2:49:50 at the 2021 Philadelphia marathon (age 51)
‣ Half marathon PR 1:20:38 Wallis Sands Half Marathon, NH (age 51)
‣ Running on average 60 miles a week
GENERAL AVIATION
‣ Private pilot license 1988
‣ High performance aircraft endorsement 2022
‣ Instrument rating 2023
‣ Complex aircraft endorsement 2023
