In this Podcast published by Senior Times Magazine, Mike Murphy interviews Mr Ray Moran, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon specialising in knee pain and Medical Director of UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic.

During this interview, Ray discusses his career in Orthopaedics, his vision for founding the UPMC Sports Surgery Clinic and how the perception of the athlete has been redefined in recent years. They also discuss how orthopaedic surgery such as knee replacement or ACL repair has developed over the past few years and how someone can be referred to SSC.

Redefining the Athlete

At SSC, we believe its time to redefine the term, Athlete. Traditionally athletes are viewed as younger elite sportspeople. However, in today’s society, regardless of age, people are becoming more aware of their physical activity level. There is an understanding of the importance of getting and remaining active from both a physical and mental health perspective.

People are becoming much more active in middle age, and later life/retirement be it walking, golfing, cycling or running, and this increase in physical activity is exposing musculoskeletal problems for some.

The recreational 70-year-old golfer, therefore, is very much an athlete in every sense of the word. If this person can no longer play the back nine holes at their course due to pain in their back, hip or knee – we are here to help.

The vast majority of people who present at SSC for treatment are middle-aged or older. Many have a desire to remain active and maintain some form of fitness level but are restricted physically by some musculoskeletal problem.