Robert Thomas Grotz

Early life

Grotz was born on April 3, 1948, in Cleveland, Ohio. His mother, Faith Eloise Grotz, earned her Master's degree in Social Work, along with putting her husband, Robert Carl Grotz, through medical school, all while she worked as the Director of Lakewood Day Nursery. Robert Carl Grotz completed his PhD in Psychology and then began Western Reserve Medical School at the age of 35 as it integrated with Case Institute of Technology. Because of the busy, ambitious life his parents were leading, Robert Thomas Grotz had lived in five different homes by the time he was 10. He lived in Lakewood, Ohio for most of grade school and then graduated from Shaker Heights High School in 1966. In 1966, Grotz was the only student to win the Decathlon award and, while President of the marching band, played solo trumpet with the high school band on a record entitled Dramatic Essay by Clifton Williams. By the time he graduated, he had won 17 medals for trumpet performance, 14 of which were for first place.

Education

Grotz received his B.A. in Psychology from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio in 1970, graduating with Honors. In 1975, he went on to receive a degree in Medicine from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. As a medical student in 1975, he also made various hospital rotations including Advanced Medicine at Harvard University and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco in San Francisco, California, the latter of which led to an internship in General Surgical Service that lasted until the following year.

In 1976, Grotz began a Residency program at the University of California, San Francisco, in General Surgical Service that lasted until the following year. From 1977-1980, he completed another Residency program, this time in Orthopedic Service, at the same University. In 1980, Grotz completed his Fellowship in Microsurgery and Hand Surgery under the guidance of Dr. Harry Buncke at Davies Medical Center in San Francisco, California.

In August 1987, Grotz began a Fellowship with the American Academy of Neurological and Orthopedic Surgeons, in which he still remains an active fellow.

Career

Grotz's career has included a mixture of medical practice and instruction. His teaching life began as early as 1972, at Case Western University of Medicine, where he worked as a tutor over a period of three years. In September 1973, he received the Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association Trainee Award for Clinical Pharmacology Research. In 1980, he became a part of the Residency Orthopedic Staff at the University of California Hospital and Davies Medical Center Department of Orthopedic Surgery in San Francisco, California, as an Assistant Clinical Professor, where he remained active until 1989. In 1979, Grotz became an Emergency Physician at Doctors Hospital in Pinole, California while simultaneously serving as a Lecturer at Universities in San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego and Aspen, where he taught a course in Orthopedic Injury and Disability.

In January 1981, Grotz began his private practice in San Francisco, California, after completing a 5-year surgery training program at UCSF. He treated 25,000 patients for over 100,000 injuries and has replaced every joint in the human body, as well as performed microsurgical procedures such as finger/thumb replants, toe to hand transplants and free muscle and bone transplants.

In 1991, Grotz became the Orthopedic Team Physician for the U.S. Rugby Football Union and served as the Team Physician at the Golden Gate Rugby Tournament.

Grotz officially retired from performing Orthopedic Surgery on April 2, 2008, one day before his 60th birthday.

Medical Inventions/Innovations

Grotz has completed three series' of inventions which have led to multiple filed and awarded patents, acquisitions by two companies (Alloy Ventures and Stryker Corporation), two of which were used for human implants, as well as FDA clearances. The most widely cited of them has been a "device for securing soft issue to bone" consisting of a "triangular shaped joint stabilizer comprising sharpened, toothed bone anchors that are forcibly spread into the bone by a central plug."

Inventions for spine surgery included the Selectively Expanding Cage (SEC) renamed AccuLif, that introduced the use of hydraulics to the spine fusion surgery. It was implanted to more than 1000 patients successfully. He also invented the Linearly Expanding Cage (LEC) and Universally Expanding Cage (UEC). The third series of inventions involve polymer joint resurfacing to pad damaged cartilage, restore cushioning, and deliver pharmacologics and regenerative cells. RADs or Resilient Arthroplasty Devices are patented in the USA and China, aiming to salvage rather than replace injured or disease human joint surfaces.

Notable Facts

Aside from Orthopedic practice and medical innovations, Grotz is also a proficient musician, excelling in piano and trumpet playing. From 1969-1970, he also taught trumpet performance for at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. While at Oberlin he won an international competition and attended the Mozarteum Academy Orchestra in Salzburg, Austria.

Grotz is an active in Taekwondo. He was awarded a First Dan Black Belt Degree on March 2, 1996, by the America-Korea Taekwondo Friendship Association.

On April 9, 1996, Grotz received a Certificate of Recognition by Senator Marks of the 3rd Senate District for fifteen years of dedication and service to the medical community and public. He was a speaker at the U.C. Berkeley Symposium on March 22, 1997, where he delivered a presentation on Orthopedic Biomechanics and Martial Arts Practice in Aging. He is also a member of Mensa and has been since October 2010.