David P. Green, MD is best known as the editor of two widely used orthopaedic and hand surgery textbooks: 1) Rockwood and Green’s Fractures (now in its 7th edition) and 2) Green’s Operative Hand Surgery (now in its 6th edition). Born in El Paso, Texas in 1936, he is a graduate of Pomona College, Baylor Medical School, and the New York Orthopaedic Hospital (NYOH) residency program. In 1997 he was named Outstanding Alumnus of the NYOH. He started his academic career as a full time faculty member at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and currently is Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at that institution. He is the Founding President of the Hand Center of San Antonio, when he continues to practice hand surgery.
He has a keen interest in history and loves trivia. The field of orthopaedics is replete with eponyms, i.e. diagnoses, types of fractures, procedures, etc. that are known by a person’s name, and he was always curious about who those people were. It was then a natural extension of that curiosity which prompted him to wonder about the people for whom places in San Antonio are named. Starting with street names, the book has been widely expanded to include schools, parks, buildings, businesses, the medical center, military bases, museums, suburban neighborhoods, and surrounding counties.
Now at a point in his career when he is beginning to slow down his hand surgery practice, he has also recently published a new book entitled Planning Ahead: Successful Retirement for the Type A Personality.
