For more than 16 years, Dr. Peter Siska has been treating complex traumatic injuries, performing countless fracture repairs and joint replacements in Pittsburgh at UPMC Presbyterian. As Wheeling Hospital’s newest orthopedic surgeon, he is bringing his surgical precision and medical expertise to serve the Ohio Valley.

Dr. Siska earned his medical degree at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and then completed his residency and fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh. For the past sixteen years, he has practiced as an orthopedic surgeon at UPMC Presbyterian, specializing in Orthopaedic Trauma, while also teaching medical students as well as orthopaedic residents and fellows at the University of Pittsburgh. He served as co- director of the Orthopaedic Trauma Fellowship as well as the director of posttraumatic reconstruction at UPMC Presbyterian.

“Training our fellows kept me on my toes. They were my favorite group of trainees because we could nerd-out at a relatively high level and think through problems the way an attending would (rather than at an intern level),” he says.

Dr. Siska credits his fellowship trainees, who came from all over the world, with teaching him new things constantly, referring to the experience as a “reverse-fellowship.”

“Every day was a school day for me. I loved that part of it,” he says.

Despite his love of teaching, his true calling is surgery.

“As an academic doctor, I have numerous publications and research presentations, but my passion is patient care. That’s why I became a doctor in the first place,” says Dr. Siska.

Dr. Siska’s practice focused on what he describes as “traumaplasty,” total hip and knee replacement after a trauma and after fracture fixation. He tried to maintain a balance between trauma surgeries and elective hip and knee replacements to keep his skills fresh.

By the time he left UPMC, half his cases were traumatic injuries, and the other half were elective joint replacements.

Repairing traumatic fractures and performing joint replacements may seem different, but Dr. Siska explains that they often go hand-in-hand.

“Patients with fractures into their joints sometimes develop arthritis and need joint replacement surgery. Sometimes the correct operation is not to fix a fracture but to remove the broken bone and perform a joint replacement from the get-go,” he explains.

“From the beginning, I knew that if I wanted to do the hard cases, I needed to routinely do primary total joint replacements to maintain my skillset. If you want to play in the World Series, you need to take batting practice,” he explains.

Dr. Siska’s patient-centered philosophy of care emphasizes honesty, compassion, and truly listening to his patients.

“I try to listen more than I talk,” he says. He cares deeply about improving the lives of his patients and particularly gets satisfaction out of joint replacements.

“My elective hip and knee replacement practice has perhaps been the most rewarding–I help take people’s pain away,” he says.

The career–and location–change was motivated by several factors.

“I think the vision of Albert Wright (President and CEO of the West Virginia University (WVU) Health System and Doug Harrison (President and CEO Wheeling Hospital) inspired me. They want to provide quality care to patients within this community, so they don’t have to travel to Morgantown or Columbus for expert care. It is a patient-centered vision,” he says.

He also notes that WVU is growing and Wheeling is becoming a destination for patients across the region.

Another job perk is Dr. Siska’s former partner at UPMC, Dr. Ivan Tarkin. The former Chief of Orthopaedic Trauma at UPMC Presbyterian has been at Wheeling Hospital for the past two years.

“He has been incredibly successful, and I am excited to join him again. We push each other to be at our best and that translates into optimal patient care,” says Dr. Siska.

Dr. Tarkin started the “Own the Bone” program at WVU Medicine, which facilitates comprehensive care following fragility fractures, including follow-up for osteoporosis treatments to help prevent future fractures. As he continues his career in Wheeling, Dr. Siska has big plans for WVU Medicine Orthopaedics.

“I am working with physicians and administration to achieve a Center of Excellence designation for our total joint replacement program. There are several excellent joint replacement surgeons at Wheeling and Reynolds and my goal is to achieve regional and national recognition for quality care so that patients can be confident that they are getting the best possible care in their own backyard,” he says.

With experts like Dr. Siska leading the way, WVU Medicine continues to offer world-class medical care close to home.

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