Getting to Know Dr. Daniel Reid
Dr. Daniel Reid says working with his grandfather in construction as a young man is what led him into becoming an orthopedic surgeon. “Orthopedics is a very hands-on surgical specialty. You’re working with tools. You’re working with power instruments, but there’s also a delicate nature to it. Doing carpentry and building things as a child, I enjoyed that, and I wanted to have some aspect of that in my career as a surgeon. So being able to put bones back together, straighten spines, and deal with instrumentation, that felt native to me and really made sense,” he said. He grew up in a suburb of Seattle, Washington with no immediate family members in medicine, but said he enjoys helping people and sorting through complex problems, and medicine allows him to do just that. After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Washington, he headed to Tulane for medical school. His residency was in Rhode Island, and he then headed back to the West Coast for his fellowship training in spinal surgery in San Diego. Now his career has brought him to Conway Medical Center and CMC Orthopaedics.
He and his wife, who’s an actress in theater, have a daughter who is five and a son who is almost three. Dr. Reid says when they visited the area as he was interviewing for the job, they loved it here. They enjoy spending time together as a family at the beach and boating. His other hobby is music. He plays guitar, piano, and “a little bit of drums,” he said with a smile. He is looking forward to working with his patients at CMC Orthopaedics. “I enjoy being able to take patients at some of the most vulnerable times in their lives and patients who are really struggling and bringing them out of that abyss and helping them recover. Patients who are a couple months out after surgery and have had a really great recovery and are doing really well, there’s nothing better in life than seeing that. It’s just very, very rewarding and I love doing it.”
When asked about advice for patients, he said if someone is in pain, be sure to reach out for help. “Don’t just assume the aches and pains or other symptoms are just due to getting older and are related to aging. I would suggest they reach out to someone to address these problems because a lot of them are addressable. Some of the more subtle things like difficulty using your hands, we call hand discoordination, and balance issues, a lot of those can be related to the spine as well. Any patients who are having trouble with their hands or having balance issues should reach out to their physician and not just assume it comes from getting older. Other problems like back pain and sciatica and shooting pains into your arms and legs, those are all reasons to reach out to a physician. Just because you’re aging doesn’t mean you can’t be helped. We are here for you.”
Dr. Reid is a board-eligible orthopaedic surgeon specializing in surgery of the spine. He also has advanced training in orthopaedic trauma and fracture care. He focuses on the prevention and treatment of spinal conditions affecting patients of all ages. Dr. Reid treats all areas of the spine, including the neck, back, low back, and pelvis. He is committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based care for his patients. He guides patients through the diagnosis and treatment of various spinal conditions, generally focusing first on non-operative modalities, and only pursuing surgical intervention when conservative measures have failed. When spine surgery is required, Dr. Reid has specific interests in minimally invasive techniques in order to reduce postoperative pain, facilitate faster recovery, and improve patient outcomes. He also regularly utilizes state-of-the-art technology, such as robotics and computer-assisted 3D navigation, in order to improve surgical accuracy and maximize patient satisfaction.
