Few things can turn around the quality of a person’s life as dramatically as receiving a new hip or new knee. The relief from years of pain and the ability to resume normal activities is a gift, and for orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jeremiah Maupin, it’s a gift he is privileged to give to many of his patients.
Maupin is the newest specialist to join the team at Norman’s Ortho Central orthopedic clinic. He treats patients of all ages, but focuses on hip and knee replacements in seniors and younger adults. He brings to the team experience in cutting-edge robotic-assisted surgeries and additional protocols that will allow many patients to have total joint replacements on an outpatient basis.
“Hip and knee replacements are where my passion is,” he said. “There have been some very exciting developments in the field. Ten to 15 years ago, you’d be in the hospital for up to a week after a joint replacement. Now, with improvements in surgical techniques including robotic-assisted surgery, plus advances in anesthesia and post-operative protocols, patients can go home either the same day or after an overnight stay. These patients also typically experience a more comfortable recovery when they have the opportunity to do it from the familiar environment of their own home.”
He added, “My favorite patients probably come from the grandparent population that have undergone hip or knee replacements and are now able to get out of the house and get back to doing activities with their grandchildren that they had slowly stopped doing over the years secondary to arthritic pain. To me, that’s an emotional currency that keeps me happy in doing what I do.”
While his large extended family are from Oklahoma, Maupin was raised on a farm in Idaho.
"My dad was one of very few vets in Idaho when we moved up there, so I was hands-on at a very early age,” Maupin said. “I always knew I wanted to do something in the medical field, and I debated for a while, but finally decided I wanted to work with people, rather than animals.”
After getting his bachelor’s degree from Linfield College in Oregon, Maupin returned to Oklahoma to attend University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. After completing his residency there, he went on to a prestigious fellowship at the CORE Institute (Center for Orthopedic Research and Education) in Phoenix, where he specialized in hip and knee reconstruction. He joined the Ortho Central team in August of 2021.
The decision to become an orthopedic surgeon came during his teenage years, when a mule kicked him and blew out his knee on the family farm, potentially ending a dream of pursuing a collegiate basketball career. After two knee surgeries, however, he was able to achieve that dream and play again.
“I like seeing a problem I can fix,” he said. “What we (orthopedists) do is heavily based on physics and mechanics, and I grew up on a farm where what we did was physics and mechanics. I grew up working and accomplishing projects with my hands and enjoy that I have been given the skills and knowledge to do this now at the surgical level for patients.”
Outside his practice, Maupin’s time is dedicated to his family, which includes wife Nicole, a physician office manager who is transitioning to become a stay-at-home mom to the couple’s children – 4-year-old Harper, 2-year-old Anthony, and 6-week-old Easton.
“All my relatives and family are here, and there’s no better place than Oklahoma to live and raise a family,” Maupin said. “We’re excited to be in Norman.”
ORTHO CENTRAL
Ortho Central Norman is located at 3400 Tecumseh Road, Suite 101.
Phone: 405.360.6794