Jay S. Talsania, MD

Orthopedic Surgery, Hand Surgery

Aligned Cliniciani

Overview

Languages spoken

  • English

Affiliated with

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About

Philosophy of care

Even though I am a surgeon, the majority of my patients are treated without surgery. Most conditions that I see in the office can be treated in a conservative manner with education and observation, medications, custom splinting and hand therapy or injections. Surgery is reserved for those patients who fail conservative treatment and feel that they can't live with the current level of symptoms. Acute hand trauma is often the exception. Occasionally, a hand condition is severe enough to warrant surgical intervention. I feel it is important to educate the patient about the expected outcome, risks and benefits to make that decision a team decision.

My goal is to improve a patient's quality of life by decreasing pain and improving function. My philosophy combines conservative medical care, patient education and state-of-the-art surgical procedures.

I really enjoy sitting down and talking with my patients and trying to solve the problems that interfere with their function. I have a diverse practice from young children to the elderly. Although I see a lot of common problems, the patients are what make the thought process infinitely variable and stimulating. I have a hard time accepting electronic medical records and computers in the exam rooms, as they take away from actual dialogue.

Why I entered medicine

When I was growing up I actually did NOT want to be a physician. My father was a general surgeon in solo practice who worked seven days a week almost 365 days a year. He was an excellent doctor, but unfortunately I did not get to spend a lot of time with him.

Because I enjoyed math and science, I decided to become a biomedical engineer and enrolled at Bucknell. It's funny how things change. During the summer before my junior year of college, I worked in a research lab in Boston doing ventilator research. This involved dissections and fluid dynamics. I quickly found my love of anatomy far surpassed that of engineering. In addition, my father passed away that school year and then something clicked in my head to pursue medicine. I regret not spending time observing my father with patients and in the operating room.

I decided during my first month of medical school when I met the orthopaedic surgery residents at Temple Hospital. They were some of the happiest, hard-working residents, and I liked how they put things back together. I felt it would be a natural progression from my mechanical engineering degree. In the midst of all the basic sciences and lectures on pharmacology, microbiology and histology, Joe Thoder gave a one-hour lecture on hand surgery. Every part of what he talked about excited me.

Across all of the subspecialties in orthopedics, hand surgery made the most sense to me. It dealt with small, delicate and mechanical structures that required precision to fix. Hand surgeons treat a variety of patients, young and old, who present with discrete problems with multiple solutions (many non-surgical) and almost immediate satisfaction with their results.

Community involvement

Community and charity involvement is very important to me. Every month, my hand surgical partner Pat McDaid and I staff a free hand surgery clinic with the help of Good Shepherd Hospital. We started this in 2009 with Randy Wolfe, who is a certified hand therapist. Surgery, office visits and therapy are performed at no cost to the patient.

I also have been traveling to Guatemala over the past nine years to participate in surgery mission work. I take my family and some colleagues, including my therapists and physician assistant. To learn more about this work, please visit talsaniahands.org.

'No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.' -- Aesop

Personal interests

I enjoy soccer, skiing, running, fitness and traveling.

Education

Undergraduate
 Bucknell University, Bachelor of Science (BS), 1986

Medical School
 Temple University School Of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine (MD), 1991

Training

Internship 1992
 Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Residency 1993
 Orthopaedic Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Residency 1994
 Orthopaedic Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Residency 1995
 Orthopaedic Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Residency 1996
 Orthopaedic Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Fellowship 1997
 Hand Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Certifications

American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery - Orthopaedic Surgery
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery - Hand Surgery

Publications & Clinical Trials

View Scholarly Works