James Andrews (physician)


James Andrews M.D. is an American orthopedic surgeon. He is a surgeon for knee, elbow, and shoulder injuries and is a specialist in repairing damaged ligaments. Practicing in Alabama, Andrews has become one of the most well known and popular orthopedic surgeons and has performed on many high-profile athletes. He also is the team doctor for the Alabama Crimson Tide, Tampa Bay Rays, Auburn University Tigers, and Washington Football Team.

Biography

James Andrews has co-founded or chaired multiple research bodies and medical centers, including the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama, the American Sports Medicine Institute, the Andrews Institute in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and the Andrews Research and Education Foundation. He has worked for many professional athletes and teams.

Career and education

Andrews received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Louisiana State University, where he was an athlete, winning a Southeastern Conference Championship in polevaulting. He completed his residency at Tulane Medical School and completed fellowships at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and the University of Lyon.
Andrews is known for performing orthopedic surgery on high-profile athletes from a wide array of sports and is one of the central figures in sports-medicine.
He created the HealthSouth Sports Medicine Council and was behind the Go For It! Roadshow. He serves on the medical advisory board for Tenex Health, Inc., a medical device company that manufactures and markets the Tenex Health TX System for the treatment of chronic tendon and fascia pain.

Notable patients

Andrews has performed surgery on many high-profile athletes. He first became known among athletes when Roger Clemens' agent advised the pitcher to visit Andrews in 1985. Andrews provided a second opinion to team doctors, performed a successful surgery on a torn labrum, and Clemens made a full recovery. Andrews would gain a reputation as an "athlete-centric" doctor, performing on athletes including Bo Jackson, Michael Jordan, Jack Nicklaus, John Smoltz, Brett Favre, and Adrian Peterson.