Selene G. Parekh, MD, MBA

Meet Dr. Parekh

 

Selene Parekh grew up in North Jersey. Son of immigrant parents, Selene was raised with traditional values.  Upon graduating from high school, Selene attended the 7-year medical program at Boston University.  While in medical school, he realized the utility of business education and became the creator and 1st graduate of the combined MB/MBA program at Boston University.  

 

Dr. Parekh then completed his internship, residency, and a fellowship in foot and ankle surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  His interest in entrepreneurship was fortified by a one-year Healthcare Entrepreneurship Fellowship at the Wharton School of Business. His experiences led to the development of the “Business of Orthopaedics” conference, the first of its kind in the United States. The course exposed orthopaedic surgeons to a breadth of topics, from practice management to product development and entrepreneurship, to personal financial management, to leadership and negotiations

 

Upon completion of his training, Selene moved to the University of North Carolina, where he revived the foot and ankle division.  He also served as a consultant to the Tar Heels athletic program.  In 2009, Selene moved his practice to the North Carolina Orthopaedic Clinic and Duke University, where he is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.  He is also an Adjunct Faculty member at Duke’s Fuqua Business School. He is integrally involved in the teaching of medical students, residents, and fellows.  His practice is focused on diseases and surgeries of the foot and ankle.   

 

Dr. Parekh has been an active speaker at regional, national, and international meetings, helping to teach other orthopaedic surgeons about best practices and novel techniques for the care of foot and ankle patients.  He has published in numerous journals and has served as editor for a number of textbooks.   

 

Dr. Parekh has been recognized as one of North Carolina’s Best Doctors every year since 2009. 

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Parekh Family Foundation

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In 2007, Dr. Parekh and his wife formed the Research Triangle Park Orthopaedic (RTPOS).  The RTPOS functions to foster education and camaraderie amongst the practicing orthopaedic surgeons in the community, the residents in training, and the fellows at Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest.  Key opinion leaders are invited on a monthly basis to teach orthopaedic surgeons in the RTP area about the latest trends and treatments in orthopaedic surgery.

 

In January of 2010, Dr. Parekh and his wife organized and established the Parekh Indo-US Foot and Ankle Meeting, which is held in India every January.  The meeting includes an international faculty who operate on indigent patients in India while teaching almost two hundred Indian orthopaedic surgeons different techniques in foot and ankle surgery.  In 2012, Dr. Parekh performed the first STAR ankle replacement in India.  Also, his textbook, “Foot and Ankle Surgery”, was released globally that same year.  The meeting travels throughout India and is now expanding outside of India. 

 

Charity clinics and surgical procedures are performed, with instrumentation and implants being donated by multinational and national Indian companies.  Trainees are selected each year to serve as the “Parekh Travelling Scholar” to participate in this program.  In addition, orthopaedic surgeons from around the world are now travelling to Durham to spend one on one time with Dr. Parekh, learning the finer points of foot and ankle care.

 

In 2011, Dr. Parekh and his wife started a College Scholarship program.  This award honors the memory of Dr. Parekh’s parents.  Applicants from across the US apply for this annual scholarship.

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Website and Blog 

 

Dr. Parekh is also known as the “Fantasy Doctor”—an orthopedic surgeon and foremost expert on sports injuries who’s fast becoming the go-to expert for the multibillion-dollar fantasy sports industry. His data-driven insights and medical expertise make for powerfully accurate predictions of how anything from common sprains to devastating season-ending injuries will affect players’ careers and the success of millions of fantasy teams. Fantasy sports for Parekh is far more than a hobby: He authored and published two foundational research papers using Fantasy football data to track the epidemiology and outcomes of tendon and ligament ruptures in the NFL.

 

Industry Involvement

 

Dr. Parekh has worked closely with industry partners to develop and improve many innovative products, instruments, and devices currently used in orthopaedics.  He has been part of multiple start-ups, some of which have been part of mergers and acquisitions.  Most recently, he has been intrigued by the implementation of novel technologies, including Google Glass, in the operating room.  He has been an explorer for Google for years, and globally broadcasted the first total ankle replacement using Google Glass in 2013. His affiliations and work with industry can be found online.