In just over 10-years, Dror Paley, MD, FRCSC, has built the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, FL, into the global leader in limb-lengthening and spine deformities treatments, and today continues offer world-class pediatric to adult orthopedic care for a wide variety of bone and joint ailments. Dr. Dror Paley is internationally renowned as a pioneer in orthopedic care having developed over 100 new operative procedures for bone and soft tissue reconstruction of congenital, developmental and post-traumatic limb disorders. The Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute is a Center of Excellence in specific areas of orthopedics including spinal deformity, limblengthening, joint health, stature lengthening, pediatric orthopedics, hip pain, physical and occupational therapy, foot and ankle deformity and multiple hereditary exostoses (MHE). Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute is located at 901 45th St., Kimmel Building, in West Palm Beach, FL.
“We offer cutting edge solutions for the simplest to the most difficult orthopedic problems with very high success rates of 98 percent. We frequently solve the unsolvable,” Dr. Paley said.
Travelling to another country for the most advanced medical treatment, or medical tourism, is on the rise and at the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute on any given day sees patients from every continent on the planet who seek the treatment of Dr. Paley and his team. Communication with families from all over the world is paramount and Dr. Paley is master communicator on the subject and in different languages, he speaks English, Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish and Russian. He has been practicing medicine since 1980. While Dr. Paley’s schedule is very busy while in West Palm Beach, he also finds the time to travel around the world meeting community leaders and the people who live there. Dr. Paley regularly presents his findings to scholars in medical communities in numerous countries across the globe.
“My international reputation creates a global referral network. Doctors I teach from around the world send us patients,” Dr. Paley said.
Dr. Paley’s education and training includes: completion of pediatric orthopaedic surgery fellowship training from the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, AOA-COA North American Traveling Fellowship – Limb Lengthening and External Fixation Traveling Fellowship from the Hospital of Lecco, Lecco, Italy, Hospital Borgo Roma, Verona, University of Rome, Rome, Kneikott Institute, Kurgan, USSR, Nufield Orthopaedic Hospital, Oxford, England and an additional hand and trauma surgery fellowship from Sunnybrook Medical Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto.
Dr. Paley completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery from the University of Toronto Teaching Hospitals, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, his internship in orthopaedic surgery from Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, and graduated medical school from the University of Toronto, School of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
In addition, Dr. Paley leads a medical observership program. Dr. Paley has lectured and demonstrated surgery in more than 80 countries and provides training for specialists from around the world through a fellowship program.
“We constantly have fellows visiting from all over the world. They come from over 50 countries. They then go home and provide some of these services and often refer patients with the most difficult problems,” Dr. Paley said.
“There are always new international fellows coming (to the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute) for training.”
Dr. Paley said medical tourism is on the rise, 90 percent of the patients he and his team care for are from outside of the State of Florida, they’ve come from all 50 states and even more amazing is the fact, the people of 90 different countries and counting have had procedures performed at the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute. One recent report pointed out as many as 8,000 hotel rooms are booked in the Palm Beach County, FL, area every year by Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute patients.
While Dr. Paley leads this one of kind orthopedic center, perhaps as equally impressive is the team he’s built to care for a patient population ranging from newborns to centenarians.
Recently, Claire E. Shannon, MD, a fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedic surgeon with special focus in limb deformity joined Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute in Sept. 2019. Dr. Claire Shannon recently joined Dr. Paley and is opening her new practice at the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute. Dr. Shannon specializes in pediatric orthopaedics, limb lengthening, congenital limb deformities, post-traumatic deformity and complex hip and pelvis procedures. She is certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Shannon is on-staff at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
Prior to joining Tenet Florida Physician Services (TFPS) and the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute, Dr. Shannon served as an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in the division of pediatric orthopedic surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine located in Baltimore, MD. At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Shannon’s specialty included the treatment of pediatric and young adult patients with congenital and developmental limb deformities, foot and ankle problems, complex hip and pelvis problems, and traumatic injuries including fractures. Today, Dr. Shannon is affiliated with Johns Hopkins as honorary faculty.
For her education and training, Dr. Shannon completed a fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. Dr. Shannon finished her residency and internship in orthopedic surgery at Case Western/University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, OH. She graduated medical school from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in Rochester, NY.
Dr. Shannon presented her research and findings relating to orthopaedic surgery and pediatric orthopaedic surgery to the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery for a medial article titled: “Final Fusion After Growing Rod Treatment of Early Onset Scoliosis: Is it Really Final?” Dr.
Shannon’s peer-reviewed article “Hip Arthroscopy for Extra-Articular Hip Disease” published in the Current Reviews in Muscoskeletal Medicine journal.
In addition, Dr. Shannon contributed research to a $100,000 NFL Charities Medial Research Grant. Dr. Shannon also completed book chapters and monographs on the topic of “Salter Innominate Osteotomy” published in the Pediatric Pelvic and Proximal Femoral Osteotomies: A Clinical Casebook, 1st Ed., and “Hip Instability in Down Syndrome” in Pediatric Pelvic and Proximal Femoral Osteotomies: A Clinical Casebook, 1st Edition. Dr. Shannon has been practicing medicine since 2011.
Bradley M. Lamm, DPM, FACFAS, joined the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute in 2016 to lead the Foot & Ankle Deformity Correction Center. Dr. Bradley Lamm is a board-certified podiatric foot and ankle surgeon. He previously served as the head of Foot & Ankle Surgery at the International Center for Limb Lengthening (ICLL) at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. Dr. Lamm specializes in the treatment of foot, ankle, and lower leg conditions in both children and adults.
Dr. Lamm is an expert in treating diabetic foot deformities, ankle disorders, sports or athletic injuries, arthritis, flatfoot, bunions, hammertoes, and various other foot and ankle ailments. He has extensive experience in joint distraction, a new technique which uses external fixation to preserve ankle and toe joints and prevents the need for fusion or replacement. Dr. Lamm performs minimally invasive surgery techniques to correct diabetic Charcot foot and to lengthen the metatarsals and toes for patients with Brachymetatarsia.
In June 2019, Dr. Lamm was featured for a new surgery to fix bunions only available at the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute in West Palm Beach, FL. According to several news reports and the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute, Dr. Lamm created an internal device called a mini bunion manufactured by Crossroads Extremity Systems.
Tom Minas, MD, FACS, joined the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute in 2018 after 30 years at Harvard Medical School, where he was a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery. He is a founding member of the ICRS (International Cartilage Repair Society-1997) and present Vice President of the Society. He brought Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) to the United States in 1995 from Sweden and has done the most Cartilage Transplants in the world. He is a pioneer and innovator, having invented many surgical techniques to treat osteoarthritis in the young and old arthritic patient and has developed and patented customized individually made knee eplacements. His work in patient-specific knee replacement has led to the introduction of a family of tissue preserving, customized implants based on patient-specific imaging data to restore native articulating geometry. Dr. Minas specializes in various procedures.
Dr. Minas has published and lectured extensively on cartilage repair and joint preservation of the knee. He has written a textbook, over a dozen book chapters, as well as more than 100 peer- reviewed articles in international journals. Additionally, Dr. Minas has directed multiple international conferences on biologic repair of arthritic joints. He was recently awarded by the America Knee Society the prestigious Insall Award in 2013 for his work on the Long-Term Outcomes assessment of ACI in the knee. For more information, check out the Cartilage Repair Center website.
In 2015, David Feldman, MD, joined the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute to lead the new Spine Deformity Center and Hip Pain Center. Dr. Feldman was previously Chief of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery and a professor of Orthopedic Surgery and pediatrics at NYU Langone Medical Center / NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases. Dr. Feldman specializes in pediatric orthopedic surgery and subspecializes in children with scoliosis and severe limb and hip deformities as well as hip and knee arthroscopy and advanced joint preservation techniques in children and adults.
After graduating from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in 1988, Dr. Feldman interned in general surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center. He completed his residency in orthopedic surgery in June 1993 and spent the next year in fellowship at The Hospital for Sick Children Toronto with a special interest in pediatric orthopedic surgery and pediatric spine surgery. Dr. Feldman brings over 20 years of experience in pediatric orthopedics, spinal deformity and joint preservation to the practice.
Craig A. Robbins, MD, was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He attended the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in English, and then ultimately returned home to graduate from the University of Miami School of Medicine in 1999. He completed his orthopedic surgery residency at Tulane University in New Orleans in 2004. Dr. Robbins then completed his pediatric orthopedic fellowship in Memphis, TN, at the Campbell Clinic, in 2005. Following this, he completed a mini-fellowship in limb deformity correction with Dr. Paley in Baltimore.
After training, Dr. Robbins and his family moved to Jackson, Mississippi. He spent 4 years in private practice and then in 2009 transitioned to the University of Mississippi Medical Center. In that same year he was named “Doctor of the Year” by DrScore.com for having the highest patient satisfaction rating of all physicians in their database.
Dr. Robbins enjoys all aspects of pediatric orthopedics, but his specialty is treating children with congenital and acquired limb abnormalities. These include femoral deficiency, tibial and fibular hemimelia, congenital pseudarthrosis, post-traumatic growth arrest, malunions, nonunions, and various angular and axial deformities such as genu varum, genu valgus, limb length discrepancy, and Blount’s disease. In addition, Dr. Robbins treats limb deformities in adults. Dr. Robbins has ectured around the country and regularly serves as an expert faculty member teaching techniques of external fixation and deformity correction to orthopedic surgeons.
Christina M. Schilero, DPM, joined the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute in 2016 after completing her residency in foot and reconstructive rearfoot and ankle surgery at West Houston Medical Center. She has completed a fellowship with Dr. Paley and performs specialized treatments for a variety of foot and ankle conditions. She also specializes in an innovative approach to complex wounds.
“We cover the full array of orthopedic subspecialties. Our specialists are all the top of their fields,” said Dr. Paley.
The Mission of the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute is to provide the most technologically advanced treatments to improve the lives of those who suffer from congenital, developmental, and post-traumatic orthopedic conditions. We are a world-renowned center specializing in:
- Limb Deformity Correction & Lengthening
- Spinal Deformity Correction
- Joint Preservation
- Advanced Pediatric Orthopedics
Serving children and adults from the local community, the United States, and the World, the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute offers comprehensive, coordinated care from an experienced team of professionals designed for the specific needs of each patient. At the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute, our treatment philosophy focuses on reconstruction over amputation, and a commitment to preserving limbs and joints and restoring function.
The Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute is located on the campus of St. Mary’s Medical Center, home to the Palm Beach Children’s Hospital. St. Mary’s boasts a dedicated team of physicians, nurses, and staff to offer a broad spectrum of outstanding medical care, including acclaimed pediatric services, trauma, stroke, orthopedics, and obstetrics.
Specialized Services at St. Mary’s Medical Center:
- Surgical Special Care Unit
- The Palm Beach Children’s Hospital
- Advanced Imaging & Radiology Suites
- Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine Center Physicians, specialists and insurance companies around the world refer their patients to the Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute.
The world-class surgeons and the personalized approach of the Patient Care Coordination Team provide comprehensive second opinions and consultative support for referrers to assure patients achieve the right diagnosis and the right access to care. As a Center of Excellence in highly complex orthopedic clinical services, the Institute seeks global partnerships to expand its footprint and advocacy through referral treatment, professional consultancy, and physician training that supports the entire lifespan of families in need of orthopedic care.
The level of clinical expertise equals the overflowing compassion and personalized experience delivered by the Patient Care Coordination Team. Families can trust they will receive the world- class comprehensive medical care, and world-class compassion.
The Paley Orthopedic & Spine Institute is located at: 901 45th St., Kimmel Building, West Palm Beach, FL 33407.
