Dr. Nelson Mead was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dr Mead competed in multiple sports early in his youth, but would go on to focus on soccer. Dr. Mead’s father was an orthopaedic surgeon, and his fond memories of his father running onto the field to care for fellow teammates sparked Dr. Mead’s interest in sports medicine. Dr. Mead earned his bachelor’s degree at American University in Washington, D.C. where he also met his wife, Julia. Dr. Mead then attended Tulane University School of Medicine and simultaneously pursued a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Tulane’s Freeman School of Business. Dr. Mead remained at Tulane for his orthopaedic surgery residency. Dr. Mead had the good fortune to be mentored by Dr. Felix “Buddy” Savoie, who is considered one of the world’s leading experts in arthroscopy, and shoulder and elbow surgery. Dr. Mead also published several book chapters with Dr. Savoie on elbow arthroscopy and osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) in the elbows of adolescents during his time at Tulane.

Upon completing his residency Dr. Mead pursued his Orthopaedic Surgery Sports Medicine Fellowship at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, CA. Kerlan-Jobe was the first sports medicine fellowship created in the country, and is regarded, internationally, as a leader in the field of sports medicine. Dr. Mead learned how to care for athletic injuries in everyone, from weekend warriors to the most elite athletes in the world. Dr. Mead assisted in the care of the University of Southern California Trojans football team, the Los Angeles Kings, the Anaheim Ducks, the LA Sparks, the Los Angeles Temptation, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

During his time at Kerlan-Jobe, Dr. Mead train under some of the foremost experts in the world on areas such as, Tommy John’s surgery, ulnar collateral ligament repair, the intricacies of the overhead throwing shoulder, shoulder instability, rotator cuff repair, cartilage restoration, ACL reconstruction and revision, and hip arthroscopy. Dr. Mead was under the tutelage of Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the a past president of the American Academy of Sports Medicine and current head team physician for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Dodgers. Dr. ElAttrache is widely regarded as one of the top sports medicine physicians in the world. Under Dr. ElAttrache, Dr. Mead learned primary and revision Tommy John surgery in Major League Baseball pitchers, shoulder arthroscopy, and ACL reconstruction and revision.

While at Kerlan-Jobe, Dr. Mead also contributed to our current understanding of overuse injuries in adolescent baseball players. Using motion analysis cameras, Dr. Mead studied the effects of core strengthening and stretching programs on adolescent baseball throwing mechanics in an effort to reduce shoulder and elbow injuries. Dr. Mead also helped develop a new technique for ulnar collateral ligament repair in the elbows of young athletes.

Dr. Mead is excited to start building a sports medicine practice in the Panama City area. His interests include injuries in overhead athletes, complex shoulder and elbow injuries, hip arthroscopy, primary and revision ACL injuries, meniscal injuries, and cartilage restoration.