Emma Castleberry for Reporter-Herald Business Spotlight
The Orthopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies (OCR) continues its commitment to holistic, individualized patient care by welcoming the newest member of its team, Dr. Katie Scott. Dr. Scott, a neuropsychologist specializing in concussions, brings a wealth of unique medical experience and training to the team as well as a passion for patient education. “Concussion is an area where good solid education for patients can sometimes help them turn the corner,” Dr. Scott said. “By and large, concussions are injuries people get better from and sometimes you just need guidance.”
It’s not incredibly common for an independent orthopaedic practice to prioritize having a neuropsychologist on their team. “It’s an organization that understands the importance of being able to provide high level care to patients, including those who have experienced concussion,” says Dr. Scott.
OCR has been serving the Colorado community with regional expertise in orthopaedic care since 1969. More than 45 specialists serve patients at OCR’s six medical campuses, located in Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Longmont, Lafayette, and Westminster. OCR’s reputation for top-notch care extends far beyond its geographical location, and patients travel from as far as Wyoming, Nebraska and beyond. The OCR mission is to keep patients’ bodies in pace with their passions by focusing on total musculoskeletal health with orthopaedic services, an outpatient surgery center, MRI, physical therapy and trauma services. OCR provides patients with the highest quality, state-of-the-art comprehensive orthopaedic care and the most advanced treatment options available to relieve pain, from fracture care to arthroscopic repairs to joint replacement.
Dr. Scott was born in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but spent most of her childhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She graduated summa cum laude from the Honors College at Michigan State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Her new position at OCR is a homecoming of sorts, as she obtained her Master’s degree and PhD in Counseling Psychology at Colorado State University. “Fort Collins is really home to me,” says Dr. Scott, who arrived back in Colorado with her husband and two dogs on New Year’s Eve. “This is where I learned and trained and I feel honored to be back and serve the community of Colorado. This is where the roots in my professional training are.” She adds that her dogs are particularly pleased with their new home. “They really are like puppies again, playing in the snow,” she said.
As part of her PhD program, she completed a one-year pre-doctoral internship at the Denver VA where she found a love of working with concussion. “It was at the VA that I really discovered my general interest in rehabilitation – helping patients following injury or significant illness and assessing where they are in terms of thinking skills and coping and emotion,” she said. Her internship included a lengthy traumatic brain injury and concussion rotation that allowed her to work with veterans who had experienced a recent brain injury as well as those who had sustained head injuries as part of their military service decades ago. “Being able to talk through those experiences and what recovery may still look like in their life was very meaningful for me and my career,” Dr. Scott said.
This experience led Dr. Scott to complete her post-doctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and she’s been practicing neuropsychology since she finished the fellowship in 2015. Her extensive clinical experience includes practice at Spectrum Health Medical Group and the University of Michigan, and most recently she was a clinical neuropsychologist at Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville, Florida. While there, she used her extensive experience with sport-related concussion in her role as Team Neuropsychologist for the Jacksonville Jaguars. “It’s a lot of fun to be a part of professional and collegiate teams and be embedded within a sports medicine staff working with student and pro athletes,” she said.
While Dr. Scott serves a broad patient population, including all ages and all mechanisms of sustaining concussion, she particularly enjoys the opportunity to work with and impart knowledge to student athletes and their families. “You can see the relief that comes from sitting with a patient and their family and explaining what concussion means and what recovery typically looks like,” she said. “Concussion can be and has been sensationalized in a lot of ways that can make it really, really scary. I love being able to meet patients and families where they are, correct misinformation and provide that first line of education about what this injury means and how we’re going to get this patient feeling normal and engaging with the things they enjoy.”
The focus on education is a major part of Dr. Scott’s philosophy as a care provider. Most of her appointments are an hour long and she takes great care to learn about the patient’s history and desires for recovery. “When you come to see me in clinic, you’re not just going to get a templated handout of recommendations that you might be able to find if you Google ‘concussion recovery,’” she said. Instead, you’ll receive a unique, individualized plan of care that can be adapted and suited to meet your needs, as well as in-depth information about your condition. “With concussion specifically, there is a body of empirical evidence that supports that education is a huge part of the recovery process,” she said. “Patients who receive accurate information about concussion early in the recovery process actually recover more quickly. So that’s a huge piece of what I see as important in my work.”
Dr. Scott and the Orthopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies are firmly committed to offering hope and healing to every patient that walks in the door. If you’re suffering from an injury, whether in sports, occupational or persistent pain for any reason, please reach out to OCR today. Visit orthohealth.com or call 970.419.7050 to schedule an appointment.
FORT COLLINS: 2500 E. Prospect Rd., Fort Collins, CO 80525, (970) 493-0112
LOVELAND: 3470 E. 15th St., Loveland, CO 80538, (970) 663-3975
GREELEY: 1900 16th St., 3rd Floor, Greeley, CO 80631, (970) 573-3224
LONGMONT: 1610 Dry Creek Dr., Longmont, CO, 80503, (303) 772-1600
LAFAYETTE: 300 Exempla Cir., Ste. 200, Lafayette, CO, 80026, (303) 772-1600
WESTMINSTER: 13559 Huron St., Ste. 201, Westminster, CO 80234, (303) 772-1600
