
S6E22 - S6 Ep19 Dr. Derek Donegan on Orthopedic Trauma & Metacognition
Published: September 21, 2026
Duration: 40:17
Dr. Derek Donegan is an orthopedic trauma surgeon and Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a healthcare entrepreneur, co-founder of ORtelligence, and a national leader with the Orthopedic Trauma Association, where his work centers on well-being, moral injury, and advocacy.
Dan and Derek start with the distinction that elective joint replacement is planned, optimized, and predictable weeks out, while orthopedic trauma is a patient you've never met and can't prepare for. The two paths have the same training pipeline, same residency spots, but somewhere along the way some surgeons catch the "trauma bug" and start looking...