Dr. Carpenter Retires from Oly Ortho to Focus on Videography, Music, and Extended Vacations – thurstontalk.com
For nearly 30 years, Dr. Clyde Carpenter never took a 2-week vacation. He began working at age 12 and held summer jobs throughout high school and college, eventually moving on to medical school and beyond. When he became a full-time orthopaedic surgeon, family trips were one week, during which he would worry about his patients back home. Apart from one journey to Europe 10 years ago to visit his children, stationed at military bases, it’s been a long stretch of short breaks.
Dr. Carpenter joined OlyOrtho in 1998 and has participated in FDA trials, published research on factors affecting outcomes in spine surgery, and invented a patented artificial lumbar disc during his tenure. Photo courtesy: Olympia Orthopaedic Associates
That’s about to change. After 21 years as one of the early members of Olympia Orthopaedic Associates (Oly Ortho), Carpenter is retiring at the end of 2021. During his tenure, he’s participated in Federal Drug Administration (FDA) trials focused on outcomes for new devices used in spine surgery, invented a patented artificial disc for the lumbar spine called the Anatomic Total Disc Replacement, and treated patients from around the United States as well as from Mexico and Guam. He’s also published multiple studies on factors that impact patient outcomes in spine surgery.
Carpenter first became interested in orthopaedics after meeting a famous surgeon in his hometown of Salt Lake City. When he let his parents know about his newfound passion, they made one thing clear: he would have to figure out a way to pay for schooling on his own. “I didn’t come from a wealthy family,” he explains. “My dad said, ‘We can’t afford to send you to medical school, so you’re going to have to study hard and get scholarships.’” That’s exactly what Carpenter did, earning full scholarships to both college and medical school.
The mechanical nature of orthopaedics appealed to his problem-solving abilities, and he discovered a talent for spine surgery. At the beginning of his career, Carpenter spent three years at Madigan Army Medical Center as a teacher, training residents. From there he joined Dr. Stephen Snow and Dr. Pat Halpin at a westside Olympia clinic that merged with the existing Olympia Orthopaedic Associates practice in 1998.
Dr. Carpenter gave a lecture at Swedish Hospital’s Cherry Hill facility about disk replacements. Photo courtesy: Dr. Clyde Carpenter
The most rewarding aspect of his work has been the difference it makes for patients. “I do spine surgery that increases lifespan,” Carpenter says. “You have people who are getting around in a wheelchair because their back and legs are so painful from compression of the nerves …….