David Helfet, MD

Dr. David Helfet is a renowned expert in orthopedic trauma surgery. He is chief emeritus of the Orthopedic Trauma Service at both Hospital for Special Surgery and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Additionally, he is the designated orthopedic trauma specialist for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the New York State Police, providing advanced orthopedic care to members who are injured in the line of duty. 

His areas of expertise include minimally invasive fracture surgery; fractures and dislocations of both the upper and lower extremities (shoulder, upper arm, elbow, forearm, hip, upper leg, knee, lower leg, ankle, etc.); fractures of the pelvis and acetabulum; complex fractures with angular deformities and/or bone defects; poly-trauma patients with orthopedic injuries; fractures in adolescents, adults and senior populations; periprosthetic fractures; insufficiency fractures; corrective osteotomies (long bones and pelvic osteotomies); unhealed fractures, including non-unions; malunions; hip dysplasia; chronic post-partum pelvic pain and/or instability.

Dr. Helfet has published extensively on orthopedic trauma topics, including peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He frequently presents at both national and international conferences on treatment of orthopedic trauma. He has received visiting lectureships, including the Presidential Guest and Watson-Jones Memorial Lecture of the British Orthopaedic Association, and has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He received the Orthopedics Blue Ribbon Article Award for outstanding contribution to the orthopedic literature in 2019, the HSS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and has been named in Castle Connolly's "America's Top Doctors" every year since 2002.