Dr. Traske Muir, an Orthopedic Surgeon at Star Valley Health’s Mountain West Orthopedics, stepped into the SVI Radio studio on Thursday, July 23 to discuss the services he offers in Star Valley, specifically for specialty foot and ankle care including arthritis, bunions and Achilles tendon injuries.

The following transcript of the above interview is AI generated. Minor spelling errors are likely to occur.

(0:00) Had a chance this morning to catch up with Dr. Trask Muir. (0:03) He is with Mountain West Orthopedics at Star Valley Health (0:06) and is a orthopedic surgeon. (0:09) A chance to get to know him and his services offered (0:12) through Star Valley Health.

(0:13) Dr. Muir, good morning. (0:14) How are you doing today? (0:15) Good morning, Duke. (0:16) How are you? (0:16) Hey, doing fantastic.

(0:17) Appreciate your time. (0:18) Thanks for coming in. (0:19) Tell us about Dr. Trask Muir.

(0:22) Where are you from and where’s kind of home base for you? (0:25) Well, I grew up in Alaska. (0:28) I grew up in Kodiak and Juneau, Alaska. (0:31) And then I’ve moved all over with my training since then.

(0:36) And including, I went to Hawaii for undergrad. (0:40) And then I went to BYU Provo for undergrad. (0:44) And then Virginia for medical school.

(0:47) And then Oregon for surgical training. (0:51) And then Oklahoma for orthopedic training. (0:54) And then Arizona for my fellowship.

(0:58) And then Washington. (0:59) And now Utah’s where I live, Utah’s home base. (1:03) Okay, so you’ve been around a little bit.

(1:04) Yeah, every time zone in the United States. (1:06) Yeah, I love it. (1:07) Alaska and Hawaii, come on now.

(1:09) That’s fantastic. (1:11) And so walk us through the decision (1:13) to go into orthopedic surgery. (1:16) What led you down that path? (1:17) Well, that’s a good question.

(1:18) It was kind of a last minute decision. (1:20) You know, I went into medical school (1:22) thinking I wanted to deliver babies. (1:24) But it turns out that’s messy work.

(1:27) So I liked orthopedics. (1:29) I was exposed to it in medical school. (1:31) You know, you do a rotation, you try out different things.

(1:35) Boy, once they gave me a power tool and said, (1:38) hey, you get to use this on bones, I was sold. (1:41) That was it for me. (1:43) That’s fantastic.

(1:44) So let’s talk about what you do then (1:46) as an orthopedic surgeon through Starbody Health. (1:49) What takes place in your office? (1:52) Yeah, so orthopedics, as you probably know, (1:55) is the treatment of diseases and conditions of the bones, (2:00) the joints, tendons, ligaments, (2:03) kind of all the structural stuff, (2:04) stuff that helps us stand up and move around. (2:08) And I take care of a variety of conditions.

(2:12) Most of what I do happens down (2:14) in kind of the foot and ankle area. (2:16) So really the stuff that supports you (2:18) and keeps you moving. (2:20) And that includes taking care of arthritis (2:24) or injuries or overuse problems, sports injuries, (2:30) everything from bunions to smashed ankles, (2:34) all of that falls under what I treat.

(2:38) Okay, fantastic. (2:39) So, and you’ve been now in practice for how long? (2:42) Oh gosh. (2:44) Well, I graduated from medical school in 2004.

(2:48) So I’ve been doing this for, gosh, 22 years. (2:52) Yeah, so a while then. (2:53) And so how has what you do changed over those 22 years (2:58) and improved and gotten better? (3:00) Yeah, that’s awesome.

(3:02) That’s the great thing about medicine, right? (3:04) It’s always evolving, always improving. (3:07) We’re finding better ways to do things, (3:09) better materials, better techniques. (3:12) And in that time, 22 years, (3:15) I’ve seen some pretty remarkable improvements (3:19) in the techniques we use, (3:22) most especially in using minimally invasive stuff.

(3:28) So instead of like to fix your Achilles tendon, (3:30) when I first started medical school, (3:32) we’d make a 12 to 14 inch incision (3:35) along the back of your ankle. (3:37) And we’d put big ropes of stitch in there (3:40) and we’d pull it together (3:42) and you’d have this big knotty mass of tendon (3:45) and rope in the back of your ankle. (3:48) And it had a high complication rate, a lot of infections.

(3:51) But now I do it through about a one inch incision (3:55) and I can get somebody walking two weeks (3:58) after a complete Achilles explosion. (4:02) And so it’s improved patient’s recovery, (4:05) lower complication rates, it’s just awesome. (4:08) And how as a physician, how do you stay up to date (4:11) on the latest techniques (4:12) and keep yourself trained like that? (4:14) I listen to radio shows like yours.

(4:16) Hey, perfect, best answer I’ve heard. (4:20) Yeah, well, besides that, we also, (4:22) there’s a lot of courses we go to, a lot of meetings, (4:26) there’s a lot of literature, (4:28) a lot of journals that we stay up on. (4:30) And every year we have to take a test (4:32) that tests our knowledge of keeping up (4:35) on the latest literature.

(4:36) Dr. Trask, you’re in studio this morning (4:38) with Mountain West Orthopedics through Starbody Health. (4:41) He’s an orthopedic surgeon. (4:42) So where you handle such a wide range of orthopedics, (4:46) sometimes I’m sure people see you just for routine care.

(4:49) Sometimes it might be more of an emergency situation. (4:51) So how does someone get in touch with you (4:56) and schedule an appointment? (4:58) Well, I come up here to Star Valley about once a month. (5:01) And so it’s intermittent, (5:04) but I’ve got openings in my clinic (5:06) where I’m happy to see anybody (5:07) with any orthopedic condition down at the foot and ankle.

(5:10) And they can get ahold of me (5:12) by contacting Mountain West Orthopedics (5:15) or Star Valley Health. (5:17) And I think the number there is 307-485-5670. (5:23) And you can schedule a time (5:25) and get things ready to rock and roll with you.

(5:27) So anything else about orthopedic surgery (5:31) and the services you offer (5:32) that you feel is worth mentioning today? (5:34) Well, I’d say first and foremost, don’t hesitate. (5:39) Some people say, well, I didn’t come in (5:41) because I didn’t think it was a big deal. (5:43) And by the time they put it off and put it off (5:45) and finally come in, (5:47) oh gosh, sometimes our options are limited.

(5:50) It’s better to come in early, learn what your options are. (5:54) I’ll always try to avoid surgery if I can. (5:56) We’ll try what we call conservative measures.

(5:59) And only if all that fails, (6:02) will we have to go and do surgery. (6:04) So don’t put it off. (6:05) Come see me now while we’ve got more options (6:08) and we can talk about what those options are.

(6:10) And people don’t need to go through their family physician (6:13) for a referral or anything. (6:14) They can go directly to Mountain West Orthopedics? (6:16) Correct. (6:17) Sometimes it depends on the insurance, (6:18) but in most cases you can schedule directly with us (6:22) and save yourself a step.

(6:25) Perfect. (6:25) Dr. Trask, we were in studio this morning, (6:27) Mountain West Orthopedics (6:28) and an orthopedic surgeon at Star Valley Health. (6:31) Appreciate your time today.

(6:32) Thank you so much. (6:33) And thanks for coming up to Star Valley (6:35) every once in a while. (6:36) Thanks for having me.

(6:37) It’s all part of the weekday wake up this morning (6:39) on the SBI Radio Network.