The Medical School Review

Meet Our Very Own Soccer Doctor

"The more you relate to your patients, the more you make them feel at ease," says Peter Jebson, M.D., assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery".

Peter Jebson's office is a reflection of his priorities in life. The bulletin board is filled with photos, cards and notes from grateful patients. A life-size poster of Austin Powers dominates the room. Soccer balls and sports memorabilia are everywhere.

Only his framed degree from the University of Iowa Medical School -- stacked in a corner with awards and recognition plaques - gives you a hint that this office belongs to a skilled orthopaedic surgeon in the U-M Medical School.

"My priorities are my family, my patients and coaching soccer. The research and teaching demands of a career in academic medicine are very time-intensive. Something's got to give and, in the past, it has always been family. I'm making a conscious effort not to do that," says Jebson.

The oldest son of an anesthesiologist and former police officer, Jebson was born in Inverness, Scotland and lived in the United Kingdom until age 16 when his father accepted a faculty position at the University of Iowa Medical School.

"I grew up reading EKGs and going on hospital rounds with my Dad," says Jebson, who describes himself as a perfectionist and highly competitive. "I always knew I'd be a physician. Nothing else would have been acceptable."

Before medicine, Jebson's first love was soccer. He played in a British soccer league until he was 15. Now he coaches Ann Arbor junior soccer teams, serves as tournament physician, and watches his two sons play. He also is one of several team physicians for the U-M Athletic Department and the Ann Arbor-based USA Hockey league.

Jebson became fascinated with hand surgery while he was a medical student at the University of Iowa. In 1996, he joined the U-M Department of Orthopaedic Surgery where he specializes in arm and hand surgery. Many of his patients are children whose shoulders and arms were injured during birth. He also treats patients with cancer, sports injuries, and carpal tunnel syndrome.

"Preserving hand function is very important to the patient's quality of life," he says. "It's delicate work and there's little room for error. You must strive for perfection."

Jebson says the best part of his job is interacting with patients, and he often stays in touch long after their recovery. He likes to tell the story of one of his favorites -- a young mother who was eight-months pregnant when she developed a rare, rapidly growing tumor in her wrist. Just a few years ago, the only option would have been amputation. Instead, in a complicated eight-hour procedure, Jebson replaced the malignant bone and tissue in her forearm with a six-inch section of bone from her leg.

"When she came for her last visit, I watched her pick up and hold her new baby," Jebson says. "That was a great feeling. It reaffirms why I went into medicine in the first place."