Duke Health invites applications and nominations for Chief of the Community Orthopaedic Division, a senior physician leadership role within the Duke Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. This is a rare opportunity to guide and build a fast-growing, community-based orthopaedic platform, oversee a large and expanding network of community practices, and remain clinically engaged while driving meaningful impact across Duke’s community care footprint. The role currently supports approximately 35 clinicians working in community settings, with anticipated growth to well over 50 in the next several years, creating a substantial leadership platform with visibility, influence, and upward mobility within a nationally respected academic health system.

The Chief will report to the Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Chief Physician Executive, Duke Health Integrated Practice Community Division. They will also collaborate with the Duke University Health System MSK&Rehabilitation and neurosciences&spine service lines. The physicians in the department include PM&R doctors, non-op sports doctires, and chiropractors. 

The successful leader will align strategy, quality, operations, growth, and provider engagement across Duke’s community-based orthopaedic practices; expand access; strengthen standardized care models; mentor and recruit community-based surgeons and providers; support retention; and help build a scalable platform that reflects Duke’s clinical standards and service excellence.

Ideal candidates will be accomplished orthopaedic leader with a record of clinical excellence, team development, operational discipline, and growth-oriented leadership. Experience may come from a high-performing community based orthopaedic platform, an academic department, a integrated health system, or a multispecialty group. The ideal leader will bring credibility with physicans advanced practice providers, administrators, and system executives, along with the ability to standardize care, expand access, develop talent, and build a cohesive provider culture across multiple sites.

This role offers the combination of scale, institutional support, and future growth that many orthopaedic surgery leaders seek: the opportunity to lead a substantial provider network today while helping design the structure, culture, and strategy for a larger community platform in the years ahead.

Opportunity Highlights

• Senior physician leadership role with broad impact across a large and expanding community-based orthopaedics platform
• Oversight of three community based orthopaedic groups, with planned growth, including to the Lake Norman region.
• Strategic, clinical, and operational leadership within an integrated academic health system and community practice platform
• Maintained clinical practice with dedicated leadership time to advance strategy, growth, quality, access, and provider engagement
• Direct influence on growth, access, market growth, service-line development, and the expansion of community-based care
• Leadership role in recruiting, mentoring, engaging, and retaining high-performing community orthopaedic surgeons and advanced practice providers
• Opportunity to align community-based care with quality metrics, innovation, and patient experience goals
• Collaboration with departmental, hospital, and system leadership to unify excellence in community-based care delivery

Community Information

Duke’s community orthopaedic sites span some of North Carolina’s most desirable and fastest-growing regions, including the Raleigh-Durham Triangle and the Lake Norman/Mooresville area. This position can be in any of the locations where we have community department members. The triangle offers strong schools, economic momentum, access to leading universities, and a nationally recognized quality of life, while Lake Norman offers waterfront living, family-friendly communities, and convenient access to Charlotte’s major metropolitan amenities.

• Raleigh–Durham ranked among the Best Places to Live and Top Markets for Quality of Life by U.S. News & World Report (2024–2025)
• Raleigh rated highly for amenities, health, and overall livability by AreaVibes (2026)
• Mooresville is recognized as one of the Best Places to Live in North Carolina by Niche