Dr. John Wollaeger - Orthopedic Surgeon

Dr. John Wollaeger: I’m John Wollaeger. I’m an Orthopedic Surgeon at Sauk Prairie Healthcare. Originally from California, where I went to medical school, but I came to Wisconsin in 1995 for Residency and I’ve been here ever since. After I finished my Residency at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, I went and worked in a small rural hospital in Fort Atkinson, and I really enjoyed that, but I had the opportunity to go back to the University and teach and work there. And I did that for 16 years and it was a great experience. I learned a ton of things, and I had a great time teaching, and now I have the opportunity to come back to a smaller hospital that’s a little more personal, a little smaller, a little more easygoing, and I’m looking forward to that opportunity now.

I do a lot of joint replacement surgery, and that involves the shoulder, hip and the knee. And I do arthroscopy as well. Again, shoulder and knee surgery.

A lot of times you can think of a surgical procedure as just something we do for a diagnosis, but there really isn’t – it isn’t that one size fits all. And I think it’s really important that I understand the person, what their expectations are, what they’re looking for, how it fits into their life. And then make sure that I really educate them in a way that we’re making a decision together as to the best treatment options.

The thing that just makes it so much fun to do, orthopedics, you get people who limp in to see you, they’re miserable, and after surgery they ride their bike in to their appointment, and there’s nothing more satisfying than that. And why would I want to stop doing that?

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