Brian R. Waterman, MD

02/08/2026

Snow, Ski, Slay.
All things shoulder & sports: NC, Naples, Northern UT.
Thanks to the incredible teams for arranging great courses & accommodations, especially Lance & Liz. 🙏

12/20/2025

slayed it! Amazing content, world class faculty, an intensive lab experience, and extra-curriculars that would make your head spin… Dinner at Delilah’s, Marshmello cameos, and Zac Brown Band at the Sphere. Thanks to our fearless co-chairs, .garrigues & .shoulder for leading the charge and reimagining cadaveric shoulder courses. Thanks to for impeccable organization and personal touches. Much love to the fellow faculty and thanks for always challenging me to be better.

12/08/2025

The orthopaedic department SHOWED OUT at the Annual Holiday Party last night, bringing all the feels. Celebrity sightings included , , and even the illustrious David F. Martin, MD, all in full, unadulterated Christmas cheer. Thanks to all our faculty, staff, and families for making the workplace special, and congratulations to our sports medicine colleague, Alan Reynolds, for earning Faculty of the Year Award.

Happy holidays to all!

11/11/2025

This Veterans Day, we honor all who served and spotlight one extraordinary story.

Meet Ron, a Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart recipient. In 1969, Ron was piloting a helicopter when it crashed in Vietnam. Two men onboard lost their lives. Ron survived, but with devastating injuries: 60% of his body was burned and his left arm was amputated.

Throughout the following decades, Ron underwent three shoulder surgeries from overuse of his right arm. In 2024, Ron needed a fourth surgery, a shoulder replaxement - finding a surgeon willing to operate a fourth time was a challenge until his daughter, Ronda, a nurse at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, introduced him to Dr. Brian Waterman, an orthopaedic surgeon and former Army surgeon.

“From the very beginning, I felt a level of comfort and confidence with Dr. Waterman,” Ron shared. “We share a brotherhood and I am very thankful for him. Dr. Waterman could relate to me and we spent time at the same Army base.”

Ron has dedicated nearly 40 years to serving fellow veterans through Disabled American Veterans and was eventually elected national commander where he spoke in front of congress. Ron is a family man who continues to fly in his spare time.

We are proud to have faculty members and teammates who are not only military veterans themselves, but who also are passionate about caring for fellow veterans and their families at the VA Medical Center in Salisbury, N.C. and throughout our Wake Forest Baptist facilities.

11/11/2025

It is the highest honor to be able to take care of our military service members, past & present. Patients like Ron inspire us everyday. To him and all our other veterans, thank you!

10/12/2025

What a week back in RVA with friends, old & new. Thanks to the Orthopaedic Department at for allowing me to be your guest for the 2025 MEDRVA lecture. You’ve had an impressive lineup of previous keynote addresses (, , Steve Brockmeier, and others…), no pressure! In all sincerity, the sports medicine and shoulder teams were among the most welcoming and down to earth group I have ever visited, and to see the support and engagement from orthopedic community at Thursday night’s dinner was nothing short of outstanding. It’s a testament to the leadership and collegial spirit that & her team exudes. Fun and spirited debate about all things shoulder: tendon transfers, muscle advancement, biceps centralization, cable reconstruction, patches, and yes, even balloons.🎈 Thanks for your generosity of time and effort.

It was also a big trip down memory lane in Central Virginia. Over 20 years ago, I showed up to Massey Cancer Center as a lab assistant after UVA, looking to resurrect my academic credentials while living in The Fan, and hopefully find a path to medical school. Even further back still, I went to middle school in Chester. And the origin story of it all, Hopewell, VA where I was born while living my parents were stationed at Ft. Lee. It’s amazing to reflect on all the formative influences and humble beginnings at each stage of this journey, all of which I’m incredibly grateful for. A full circle moment, so thanks to the team at VCU for allowing me to live that out. Persistent, hard work, and the relationships you build will always define you, so invest in them and let the legacy of Alex Vap continue on. 🙏

09/27/2025

The Travelling Fellows from Latin America descended on North Carolina for the second leg of their U.S. tour. The Wake Forest & Duke teams combined forces to showcase the full Southern experience: TopGolf, NC Barbecue, al fresco dining, garden tours, microbrews, college futbol (, 7-0 W ‼️) and of course… shoulder surgery. Augmented RSA after failed SCR, revisions of a well fixed Neer stem, CAM procedures, anterior cable reconstruction with biceps augmentation, and much more. Great conversations and debates on contemporary topics!

All-stars Alessandro Nilo Fulvi (.nilo_; Mérida, MX) & Catalina Larrague (Buenos Aires, ARG) were incredible guests and shared their incredible experience with arthroscopic Eden-Hybinette procedure and Latarjet in collision athletes. Great talks at Duke Grand Rounds, and credit to Wake Forest colleagues , .traz, & for organizing an incredible schedule alongside Oke Anakwenze and Chris Klifto at Duke. As the pictures suggest, it’s a lot of heavy lifting, but so worth the effort to make the shoulder world feel that much smaller.

Don’t miss the out-takes at the end. It looks like we all need a little more work on the simulator!

09/20/2025

SECEC 2025 was a whirlwind trip to the Netherlands, and the international shoulder & elbow community did not disappoint. Despite a 30 hour unplanned side trip to JFK, Delta delivered as promised.

Our ASES Shoulder & Elbow Podcast highlighted several of the best research presentations, including Drs. Samuel Antuña, Arno Macken, Bjorn Salomonsson, and Maxime Antoni. Our ICL session on open and arthroscopic management of complex shoulder instability in the competitive athlete was packed, and credit to Peter Chalmers, Doruk Agkun, and Ruth Delaney. Our North American session led by ASES President Joaquin Sanchez-Sotelo highlighted the novel approaches to management of challenging rotator cuff pathology. Lastly, our session led by Clara Azevedo & Maristella Saccommano on How to Master Anterior Shoulder Instabilty offered a roadmap to success with Banakrt repair, DAS, and Latarjet procedures. Incredible discussion and presentations!

Rotterdam is an amazing city with vibrant architecture and a rich multicultural scene. From croquets to canals and bicycles, our Dutch hosts pulled out all the stops, including our former fellows dad, Dr. Maarten van der List. Congratulations to President and the executive committee for an incredible program. Thank you!

06/21/2025

03/16/2025

The week of was PACKED… amazing content, leadership lessons, connecting with mentors & friends, industry and society collaborations, and of course… a side trip to La Jolla for fish tacos and contrast therapy with our fellows. 🧊🔥Self care, is that what you call it? 😎

The BU program chair Tiger Li & President Paul Tornetta led a full program chocked full of hard-nosed science & evidence-based best practices for our patients. Thanks for the opportunity to be your Sports Medicine & Arthroscopy ICL Chair and allowing me to present our work on biological and structural augmentation of rotator cuff tears, complex shoulder instability, and failed bone block stabilizations. The AANA-ASES Specialty finished strong as well! Credit to program chairs, , Mike O’Brien, , and Bill Ciccone for leading the charge AND keeping us on time!

Quick side trip by the SOA meeting to present on AC joint injuries in Nashville, a blissful 10 hours of delays on the ground in terminal C, and finally home at the stroke of midnight last night for 🎂. Always great to be a guest of the team physicians, but even better to be back in NC! Great to see everyone along the journey!

02/20/2025

A great trip to Vail for Grand Rounds on “Cartilage Restoration & Joint Preservation” at the unparalleled & . Gracious hosts, fantastic discussion, &🙏 to for sponsoring the fellows lab on MACIArthro and all things . The future is bright!

02/10/2025

Speaking of Super Bowls, THIS was the upper crust of cartilage restoration and joint preservation. Thanks to Rachel Frank, Seth Sherman, Wayne Gersoff, Ralph Gamberdella, and Bert Mandelbaum for the long awaited return to the in Carlsbad, CA. The content was unrivaled, and scratched my itch for unparalleled dining experience. Love this team and am so grateful to be able to be along such an esteemed group of experts. A special thanks to Drs. Cohen & Cohen Kaleka for making the special trip from 🇧🇷 to educate the masses. ❤️ full, Shabbat dinner complete, the 🌎 future is bright!