Physicians

Ben R. Thebaut, Jr., MD

Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon Special expertise in Total Joint Replacement, Arthroscopy, and Upper Extremity Surgery

Dr. Thebaut comes by his interest in patient care naturally. Born to a freshman medical student at Emory, one of his earliest memories is carrying his dad's medical bag on "rounds" at Grady Hospital where his dad was a surgeon-in-training. As a high school student in Atlanta, he was already assisting in surgery. It's little wonder that he and his three brothers all finished with doctorate degrees.

After attending Emory University College, and then the School of Medicine, Dr. Thebaut continued with Internal Medicine training at USC for over a year, before being called as an Air Force Flight Surgeon for three years during Vietnam. He became Chief of the Flight Surgeon's Office, as well as (separately) of Aerospace Medicine, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health, at March Air Force Base (California) before moving his family to Boston to accept a resident General Surgeon position on the Harvard service at Boston City Hospital. This was followed by residency training in Orthopedics with the Combined Harvard Program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital, and then a combined fellowship in Upper Extremity (Hand) Surgery at Harvard and Columbia University in New York. Following this additional training, Dr. Thebaut was honored with a faculty teaching position at Harvard, on the staffs of both the Children's and Brigham Hospitals in Boston.

It was in this world-renowned center for hip and knee arthroplasty that Dr. Thebaut developed his interest and expertise in joint replacement surgery, which has continued. He moved to the Northern Palm Beaches in 1973, where he performed the first total knee arthroplasties ever done at Palm Beach Gardens Hospital. He has maintained his practice in this area for over twenty-five years, and is widely appreciated for his knowledgeable, skillful, and conservative approach to Orthopedic medicine and surgery. He was first certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1974, and voluntarily tested successfully for re-certification in 1988 and 1998. He was awarded a Certificate of Added Qualification in Hand Surgery when first offered by the Board in 1989, and this was renewed in 2000. He has been granted licenses to practice medicine and surgery in Georgia, California, Massachusetts, Florida, and North Carolina.

Dr. Thebaut's professional judgment and leadership have also been acknowledged in Palm Beach County where he has chaired many committees at the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, as well as with the Palm Beach County Medical Society. He has served a number of years as Chief of Surgery at the Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Palm Beach County Medical Society. He was honored to be chosen for the Florida Bar Association Grievance Committee for which he volunteered his time for several years, and to serve as Chairman of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation, Regional Campaign. Along with other offices, he was elected President of the Palm Beach County Medical Society, and was organizing President of the Palm Beach Orthopaedic Institute, and first Chairman of the Board. He is presently Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center.

Dr. Thebaut is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons. His memberships include the Eastern and the Southern Orthopaedic Associations, the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, and the American Association for Hand Surgery, as well as multiple others. His professional presentations and publications are many, and may be reviewed with other details by requesting his Curriculum Vitae.

On questioning, Dr. Thebaut thinks his long clinical experience may bring the greatest benefit to his patients. "As valuable as they are, X-rays, scans, and MRIs often don't correlate with the patient's presenting complaints. But it's the complaints that need attention and resolution; not the imaging studies."

"The best treatment recommendations require not only diagnostic skill, but also the experience to know what will work, and what won't; and a balance of the potential risks, benefits, costs, and rehabilitation effort ...& understood by both the patient and surgeon. These are the ingredients for happy results." Dr. Thebaut sees patients in the Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter offices four days weekly, saving Fridays for surgery, and other days as necessary. He is known for incorporating diverse proven techniques into modern approaches and solutions for complex Orthopedic problems. His state-of-the-art total joint replacement techniques and modern management of Orthopedic trauma are complemented by major joint arthroscopy, tendon transfers and reconstruction, and well-rounded approaches to arthritis, tendonitis, and common upper and lower extremity conditions. Innovative solutions include bone marrow transplants, fluoroscopic pinning and cannulated screw techniques, extremity shortening and lengthening, and endoscopic hand and foot procedures, including closed carpal tunnel, trigger finger, and plantar fascial releases, as well as wrist arthroscopy. He has recently been Chief Investigator for an FDA-sponsored study on a blood replacement product which shows considerable promise, and now on a study of the correlation of wrist fractures to osteoporosis, and the consequent risk of later hip fracture.

On the side, Dr. Thebaut enjoys singing, dancing, computers, photography, and aerobic exercise, as well as occasional scuba, tennis, and skiing. He is an accomplished (Airline Transport Rated) pilot with thousands of accident-free hours over 44 years of flying, and incidentally, a "frustrated" beginning golfer.

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