Curriculum Vitae
Rob Parisien, MD, FAAOS
Rob Parisien, MD, FAAOS
Orthopaedic Surgery · Elliot Hospital · Manchester, NH
Elliot Hospital, One Elliot Way, Manchester, NH 03103
Orthopaedic trauma surgeon providing comprehensive fracture care for adults and children at a Level II ACS trauma center, with a subspecialty interest in total and reverse shoulder arthroplasty. Research program centered on medical epistemology, cognitive psychology in surgical decision-making, and the philosophy of clinical evidence.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Elliot Hospital — Orthopaedic Surgery 2010 – Present
Manchester, New Hampshire | ACS Level II Trauma Center
– Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (FAAOS)
– Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery, continuous since 2014
– Orthopaedic trauma surgery: adult and pediatric fracture care, complex periarticular fractures, polytrauma
– Total and reverse shoulder arthroplasty
– Elected to Board of Directors, Elliot Health System, 2026
– Named Elliot Hospital Physician of the Year, 2014
– Orthopaedic Trauma Association Clinical Member since 2013
Maine Orthopaedic Center, P.A. 2005 – 2010
Portland, Maine
– Orthopaedic trauma and fracture surgery; Level I trauma call coverage at Maine Medical Center
– Sports medicine: comprehensive shoulder surgery including total and reverse shoulder arthroplasty
– Orthopaedic surgeon for the Portland Pirates professional hockey team
– United States Ski Team physician; traveled with Men’s team to World Cup event in Slovenia, 2007
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Harvard Brigham Sports Medicine Fellowship 2004 – 2005
Brigham and Women's Hospital | Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
– Advanced arthroscopic techniques, shoulder arthroplasty, reverse shoulder arthroplasty, and trauma
– Staff surgeon, Veterans Affairs Hospital system, Boston; teaching Harvard and BU orthopaedic residents
– Level I trauma call coverage at Brigham and Women's Hospital
Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program 2000 – 2004
Harvard Medical School | Clinical Fellow in Surgery
– Chief Orthopaedic Resident, Massachusetts General Hospital, 2004
– Awarded Best Clinical Research Paper, Harvard Orthopaedic Chief Residents, 2004 (Barrett Family Prize)
– 99th percentile, ABOS qualifying examination, 2004
Harvard General Surgery Internship 1999 – 2000
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | Clinical Fellow in Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Dartmouth Medical School 1995 – 1999
Doctor of Medicine — Graduated with Honors
– Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Society
– Syvertsen Scholar Award for Academic Excellence
University of Colorado 1990 – 1995
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy — Graduated with Honors
PUBLICATIONS & RESEARCH
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Janssen S, Teunis T, Ring D, Parisien R. Cognitive Biases in Orthopaedic Surgery. Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. 2021;29(14):624–633. doi: 10.5435/JAAOS-D-20-00620
Teunis T, Janssen S, Guitton TG, Ring D, Parisien R. Do Orthopaedic Surgeons Acknowledge Uncertainty? Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. 2015 Nov.
Doornberg J, Parisien R, van Duijn J, Ring D. Radial Head Arthroplasty with a Modular Metal Spacer to Treat Acute Traumatic Elbow Instability. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 2007;89:1075–1080.
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. William Jason Mixter 1880–1959: Ushering in the Dynasty of the Disc. Spine. 1998;21:2363–2366.
Manuscripts Under Review
Parisien R. Epistemic Asymmetry Between Abstracts and Discussion Sections in the Orthopaedic Literature: A Corpus Analysis of 201 Publications. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. [Under Review]
Parisien R. The Unexamined Practice: Five Philosophical Concepts Embedded in the Orthopaedic Encounter. Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. [Under Review]
Parisien R. Bayesian Reasoning Patterns Among Musculoskeletal Surgeons: A Survey Study. PLOS ONE. [Under Review]
Selected Presentations
Parisien RC, Doornberg J, Ring DC. Fracture-Dislocations of the Elbow: Replacement of the Fractured Radial Head with a Modular Metal Prosthesis. Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting. Fort Lauderdale, FL. October 2004.
Parisien RC, Tomford WT, Zurakowski D, Patel DG. Long-Term Outcome of Allograft Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, Washington, DC. February 2005. [Poster]
Invited Grand Rounds Presentations — Cognitive Biases in Orthopaedic Surgery
– New England Orthopaedic Society, Boston — November 2016
– Harvard Orthopaedics Grand Rounds, Brigham and Women's Hospital — February 2017
– Johns Hopkins Orthopaedic Department Grand Rounds — 2018
– Elliot Hospital Grand Rounds, Manchester, NH — July 2022
– Lahey Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Burlington, MA — Fall 2022
– Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, PA — April 2023
Other Publications
Parisien RC. Creative Classical Guitar. Creative Concepts Publishing Co., Ojai, California. 1993.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
– Epistemology of medicine and surgery; philosophy of clinical evidence
– Cognitive biases and heuristics in orthopaedic decision-making
– Bayesian reasoning in clinical orthopaedics
– Philosophy of science as applied to medical practice and research design
– Vagueness and the Sorites Paradox as they apply to continuous biological phenomena (fracture healing)
– Epistemic asymmetry between published abstracts and full-text discussion sections
HONORS & AWARDS
– Elliot Hospital Physician of the Year, 2014
– Barrett Family Prize — Best Clinical Research Paper, Harvard Orthopaedic Chief Residents, 2004
– Syvertsen Scholar Award for Academic Excellence, Dartmouth Medical School
– Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Honor Society
– 99th percentile, ABOS Qualifying Examination, 2004
LICENSURE & MEMBERSHIPS
– Board Certified in Orthopaedic Surgery — American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (first certified 2007; recertified 2016 and 2025)
– Fellow, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (FAAOS)
– Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
– Member, Orthopaedic Trauma Association
– Member, AO Trauma Association
– Member, New England Orthopaedic Society
– New Hampshire State Medical License
ATHLETIC CAREER
United States Ski Team 1987 – 1992
– 1992 Winter Olympic Games, Albertville, France — 20th place, Men's Giant Slalom (best American finish)
– 1991 World Alpine Skiing Championships, Saalbach, Austria — 25th place, Men's Giant Slalom (best American finish)
– World Cup, Europa Cup, and North American series competitor
– 1st place, Canadian National Giant Slalom Championships, 1990
– 4th place in U.S. National Championship Giant Slalom at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, 1989
– 5th place, Pan American Games Giant Slalom, Las Lenas, Argentina, 1990
– 7th place, Junior World Championship Giant Slalom, Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, 1988
– 9th place in Junior World Championship Slalom, Alyeska, Alaska, 1989
– Elected to Maine Ski Hall of Fame, 2014
OTHER INTERESTS
Baroque Lute
– Performance and recording of works by S.L. Weiss, J.S. Bach, and other Baroque-era composers
– Baroque lute design and construction; member, Lute Society of America
– Recording artist (album in production)
Distance Running
– Marathon PR: 2:49:50, Philadelphia Marathon, 2021 (age 51)
– Indianapolis Marathon, 2025: 2:50:26, 2nd place in age group (age 55)
– Half-marathon PR: 1:20:38, Wallis Sands Half Marathon, NH
General Aviation
– Private pilot license, 1988
– Instrument rating, 2023; high-performance and complex aircraft endorsements
