DR. DAVID S. RUCH earned his Bachelor’s degree in British Literature from Duke University and his Doctorate in Medicine from Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in WinstonSalem, NC. Dr. Ruch also completed his residency at Wake Forest in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery where he served as Chief Resident in 1992-1993. After residency, he completed a postgraduate Hand and Microvascular Surgery fellowship at Duke. He returned to Wake Forest where he served on the Orthopaedic Department faculty for 11 years, during which time he co-founded the Hand and Upper Extremity fellowship and served as its co-director. In 2005, Dr. Ruch became the Chief of Hand and Microsurgery at Duke for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. In 2016, he assumed the role of the first combined Division Chief of Hand Surgery at Duke and is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and an Adjunct Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. In 2022, Dr. Ruch became the Virginia Flowers Baker Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Ruch has authored or co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles and 40 book chapters and serves as a reviewer for nine journals. His scholarly interests include traumatic conditions of the hand, wrist and elbow. In addition, he has extensive experience in the management of avascular necrosis in young adults. He has trained over 200 residents and 70 hand fellows. Dr. Ruch has served on numerous committees and boards. He has served as secretary of the American Orthopedic Association. He served for 5 years as the practice division director for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, recently started a second term on the board of the American Association of Hand Surgery and is the President-Elect of the American Association of Hand Surgery. He serves as a representative to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery’s Board of Specialties (BOS). Dr. Ruch is past President of the Southeastern Hand Club and the Duke Hand Society and is currently Executive Director of the Duke Hand Society, through which he has chaired the Duke Residents and Fellows Upper Extremity Review Course for the past fifteen years.