In this episode, Bopha Chrea, MD, sat down with host Robert M. Orfaly, MD, MBA, FAAOS, to recount her family’s harrowing journey to freedom after the communist Khmer Rouge regime took over Cambodia. The family ultimately managed to make it across the war-torn, destabilized countryside and reach the Khao-i-Dang Refugee Camp in Thailand, where Dr. Chrea was born, before emigrating to Canada. 

Dr. Chrea, now a foot and ankle surgeon with University of Iowa Health Care, shares three important lessons her family’s fortunes and misfortunes taught her. Listen to learn what they are, and to hear the remarkable story of how her family’s perseverance and willingness to face fear head-on led them to safety — and ultimately shaped Dr. Chrea’s inspirational approach to life and career. 

Guest: Bopha Chrea, MD, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa

Host: Robert M. Orfaly, MD, MBA, FAAOS, AAOS Now editorial board member