Dr. Nolan Wessell

Thank you so much for having me on board.

Yeah, absolutely.

Sure.

So as you already mentioned, I currently work at the University of Colorado Department of Orthopedics, but I was born and raised in North Central Wisconsin, did my undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, and then

After graduation, I worked very briefly in medical research for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute before moving on to medical school at Wayne State University in Detroit.

I stayed in Detroit for my residency at the Henry Ford Health System and then moved out to Colorado in 2017 to do my fellowship in adult spine surgery at the University of Colorado.

So since 2018, I've been on faculty at the university.

Currently, the majority of my practice is spent on the south side of Metro Denver in the Highlands Ranch community, but I still maintain a small portion of my practice at the main university campus.

Sure.

You know, it's...

It's probably no secret to anybody that works in healthcare or has friends or family that work in healthcare that burnout, especially on the heels of the COVID pandemic a few years ago, has run rampant throughout the system.

And that's not just isolated to orthopedic surgeons.

But what I can tell you is that currently about 40% of active orthopedic surgeons

endorse symptoms consistent with burnout and depression.

And over the course of an orthopedic surgeon's career, upwards of 60 to 65% of individuals may suffer from symptoms of burnout and depression.

And in a system that's already very strained, this can lead to early attrition, which we certainly don't need because as the baby boomers age into those years where they demand more care, orthopedic care is a major part of that.

And we really just want to make sure that we're taking care of not just our patients, but ourselves, right?

We can't be expected to care for other people if we ourselves are not in good physical and mental conditions.

So the University of Colorado, like many large institutions, has done its best to prioritize wellness.

And myself and one of my colleagues from the Children's Hospital of Colorado, Dr. Sarah Sibyl,