Nothing slows down Sonya Clark. Whether she is skiing the slopes, trekking triathlons, paddling in her kayak, or being a mother to her 7-year-old, Clark understands firsthand why her patients need to be back in full health.

 

Currently finishing a fellowship in hand/upper extremity orthopedic surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Clark will soon take over as hand/upper extremity specialist at Healthstar Physicians in Morristown.

 

Healthstar is a multi-specialty physician group with over 50 physicians, more than 20 specialists, and 12 locations. Clark will join an orthopedic staff with two general orthopedic surgeons, one spinal surgeon, and one podiatrist. Clark said it is a perfect fit.

 

"I'm the fourth ortho joining the group," said Clark. "So as far as what's available and open, I pretty much have free rein over the upper extremity. It's nice because you never want to go into a group where there's already too many people doing what you want to do."

 

Clark is anxious to get started in August, as her husband, Jeff, and son, Austin, have been getting settled in Morristown while she has been finishing her fellowship in Mississippi this year.

 

Clark was born in Chicago, grew up in Texas, and has never lived in Tennessee—but she is excited about the new venture. In fact, Clark seems to have liked all the places she has lived.

 

"I had been talking to a recruiter, and she was looking at states I liked. I had spent a little time at Vanderbilt during my residency, but other than that I'd never been to Tennessee. She said she had a job outside Knoxville. I came out and we just really loved it," said Clark. "I think my husband and son really loved it here."

 

From Chicago to Houston to College Station, Texas, to Fort Worth, Texas, to St. Louis for her residency, Clark always finds the positive side of things.

 

"As far as residencies go, you just apply all over," said Clark. "I actually really like St. Louis, even though I don't know if I would have chosen it at first."

 

Similar to the variety of places she has lived, Clark enjoys the variety of patients she gets to see as a hand/upper extremity specialist.

 

"The age range is really big," said Clark. "With young kids, there's fractures, and that pretty much goes up until people in their 70s and 80s. We have everywhere in between."

 

Clark said she sees patients with sports injuries from the shoulder down, patients with carpal tunnel, and patients with rotator cuff injuries. She said her older patients often have arthritic issues or need wrist, finger, elbow, or shoulder replacements.

 

But what Clark enjoys most about her job is that problems can be fully eliminated. If treated correctly, injuries will not linger or persist, and the patient can return to daily life.

 

"I love orthopedics because with most of what we do, you have a problem and you take care of it," said Clark. "There's a lot of conditions in medicine—like diabetes—that you are constantly treating but you never necessarily take care of the problem. But with orthopedics, you take care of the problem, and then they go back to their normal life. It's pretty upbeat, and you get people back to what they were doing before."

 

Clark understands that kind of urgency because, as she puts it, she has "done it all."

 

"I've done it all, and I still do," said Clark. "I grew up being a gymnast and soccer player, and I kind of evolved into doing triathlons and marathons and all outdoor sports. I'm getting back into water skiing this weekend. We're big skiers. I actually snowboard."

 

Clark's love of outdoor sports is part of the reason why she is so enthusiastic about moving to East Tennessee.

 

"This is definitely a good place for outdoor activity, so we appreciate that," said Clark. "We're so close to everything now. I'm sure I'll be plenty busy, but living so close to all these activities makes them a lot more do-able."

 

Clark's husband has also joined the staff of the Hurricanes as a Morristown-Hamblen East High School football coach, and Austin has already joined a soccer team.

 

Although it may seem that the Clark family does everything, Sonya said her husband draws the line at one particular sport.

 

"My husband has done marathons before, but he said he'll never do it again."

 

Clark grew up in a family of athletes, as her father was a professional soccer player in Brazil.

 

"Probably what got me interested in orthopedics was my dad," said Clark, "because what ended his career was that he tore his ACL. Then when he was coaching my sister's team (in the U.S.) he tore his other one."

 

Clark said she and both her sisters grew up playing soccer. Meanwhile, their mother may not have played team sports, but she was a different kind of athlete.

 

"She was always taking care of us and running us to our sporting events," said Clark.

 

When asked her favorite sport, Clark found it difficult to answer. First, she pondered triathlons because of the challenge. Then she considered snowboarding because of the scenery of the mountains. Then she remembered water sports because it's an activity the whole family likes to do together. Finally, Clark said,

 

"That's a hard question for me. There's just so many things that I love."