Renowned orthopedic surgeon Jim Scott announces retirement

TIFTON – Dr. Jim Scott, renowned orthopedic surgeon and the founder of Georgia Sports Medicine, recently announced his retirement.

Scott earned his medical degree from the Augusta-based Medical College of Georgia and also received a graduate degree from Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed his residency training at UCLA and the Hughston Orthopedic Clinic and went on to found Georgia Sports Medicine in Tifton in 1983. The practice and surgery center were acquired by Tift Regional in 2015.

“Dr. Scott is a true health care pioneer — not just here in our region, but for the entire state and country,” Southwell President and CEO Christopher Dorman said in a news release. “For more than 40 years, he has been instrumental in making Tifton an orthopedic center of excellence. We were happy to have him on our team at GSM, and we wish him well in retirement.”

During the course of his career that spanned more than four decades, Scott championed the latest in surgical techniques and medical technology, performing hundreds of joint replacements and arthroscopies each year. He was also instrumental in sponsoring and coordinating the annual Sports Medicine Seminar, an event held in Tifton for area coaches, trainers, athletes and medical professionals.

Scott joined the board of Tift Regional Health System Inc. in the summer of 2019 and plans to continue to serve as a board member during his retirement.

“Although I will be retiring from my position as an orthopedic surgeon with Georgia Sports Medicine, I still look forward to serving on the board,” Scott said. “I look forward to continuing work with the great group of people we have on the board and the doctors and staff at Georgia Sports Medicine.”

Over the course of his career, Scott has served as a president and board member for the Georgia Society of Ambulatory Surgery Centers and was appointed by former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal to serve on the Georgia Board of Athletic Trainers. He has been profiled in Orthopedic Technology Review as a leading practitioner of state-of-the-art orthopedics and has been invited to be a lecturer and instructor all around the globe. He has served as president of the Georgia Orthopedic Society as well as president of the Society for Arthritic Joint Surgery.

In 2015, Scott was recognized by the Georgia Orthopedic Society to receive the Jim Funk Distinguished Service Award presented for demonstrating an exemplary commitment to musculoskeletal humanitarian activities and contributed significantly to improving the practice of Orthopedic Surgery.

Scott also was the recipient of the John B. Prince III Distinguished Service Award in 2018, which was established by Tift Regional’s Guest Relations Committee in 2003 to recognize a longstanding associate of Tift Regional who is also a leader in the community, using their influence over the years to help further the mission of the hospital.

Throughout his busy career, Scott also has continued to travel to Guatemala and El Salvador frequently to donate his professional orthopedic services to underserved patients in those countries. In the 1980s, Dr. Mac Freeman, a former associate of Georgia Sports Medicine, invited Scott to go to Guatemala to perform surgery with Central American doctors and that effort has lasted more than 30 years.

Drs. Scott and Guillermo Claverie started Fundaorto and American Surgeons for Central America. Fundaorto has performed more than 4,000 hip and knee replacements for indigent patients. Surgeons from Central America have spent up to a year in Tifton to study then return to Central America. Surgeons from the USA travel to Guatemala and Salvador to operate and teach. The doctors at Georgia Sports Medicine all were involved in the program that has been supported by TRMC.

Over the years, surgeons from Russia, Japan, Salvador, Venezuela and other countries have visited Tift Regional Medical Center to observe surgeries done with new instruments and techniques developed by Scott.

He has three children and nine grandchildren and enjoys hunting, fishing, scuba diving, reading and is very active in his church. He and his wife, Holly, enjoy traveling with family and friends, and he said he is looking forward to spending more time on his hobbies and with family and friends during his retirement.

Special Photo: SouthwellSpecial Photo: Southwell