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Membership / Member of the Month / Emeritus / Henry D Rocco, MD, MSc, BA, FAAOS

Henry D Rocco, MD, MSc, BA, FAAOS

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Henry D Rocco, MD, MSc, BA, FAAOS
Orthopedic Surgeon
formerly Grant Hosp. Bone & Joint Center
Columbus, OH
Member Since: 1975

 

As an Emeritus Member, which AAOS resources do you use most and why?
The AAOS Annual Meetings, comprehensive information & education. Being a proud member of the AAOS. At 92 years I still attend Annual Meetings and The Ohio State University CME events.

If you were mentoring a new member, what important advice would you give them as they progress in their career?
Development of tenets to live by, i.e., particularly service first and lifelong education, scholarship, leadership, and foremost "reverence for life". Having a stable marital life and companionship.  Encourage integrity, honesty, and avoid greed, arrogance, and excessive pride.

What aspect of retirement surprised you the most?
Not being prepared. Realizing that the pursuit of learning should be lifelong. I had 3 careers:

1st Career: Air Force, 3 years in Germany, where I delivered my footling breech daughter. (Returned to The Ohio State University residency with co-chief resident Tom Mallory, who became a nationally known Orthopedist.

2nd Career 30 years: Newark, Ohio, General Orthopedist and Sports Medicine. Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff, Licking Memorial Hospital. Team physician for Denison University football for 28 years and Newark High School Football and basketball for 30 years. 12,000 free high school pre-participation physicals. Ohio High School Athletic Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, 28 years and committee Chair. USAIGC, United States Association of Independent Gymnastic Club, Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and yearly training camps for 17 years. Volunteer Physician for the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center for 2 weeks. Honorary membership as the first physician admitted to the Ohio Athletic Trainers Association. Team physician awards for several years by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. First Retirement Feb.4, 2001, for hand and wrist arthritis.

3rd Career: After 3 months of retirement, invited to The Ohio State University Department of Orthopedics to triage and consult for 5 years, then transferred to Ohio Health due to contract specifications and spent 17 years at the Grant Hospital. Bone and Joint Center. Retired the 2nd and final time Aug 31, 2022, after 60yrs in medicine at 89 years of age.

What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time?
Maintenance of health with the continuance of physical fitness.

Enhancement of family relationships. Yes, the continuance of learning is a hobby. Photography with its sharing with family & friends. Writings:  281 pages of an autobiography & family biography due to my being the last of a first-generation American. A wonderful, brilliant wife, Amy a physical therapist and past President of H2Health, a consortium of 250 rehab clinics in 15 Eastern States.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself that not many people know?
My first job was working for my father, shining brass spittoons at 7 years old. He was a poor, illiterate immigrant barber and a World War One front-line soldier. Hence, I worked my way through college and medical school.