Staff Spotlight: Jeffrey Randall, MD, Orthopedic Surgeon
The best thing Jeffrey Randall, MD, likes about working with athletes is their attitude.
"It's a highly motivated patient population with high expectations for getting back to where they need to be," says Dr. Randall, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and care provider at The University of Kansas Health System's Sports Medicine and Performance Center.
"From pediatric to high school and college athletes, and from professional to recreational athletes, their motivation gets me excited to come to work," he says. "A master runner is as motivated as a college or professional athlete to get back to their sport."
Originally from North Carolina and raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Dr. Randall chose the University of Kansas for his undergraduate education. After graduating with a degree in chemistry, he completed basic medical science studies at Harvard Medical School before returning to the University of Kansas School of Medicine, where he graduated first in his class.
His next step was an important one. After hearing from a mentor, James Neff, MD, about the orthopedic oncology program at the University of Florida, Dr. Randall journeyed south to complete his orthopedic surgery residency with the Gators. He developed a love for sports medicine while training under Peter Indelicato, MD, team physician for the Florida Gators and Miami Dolphins.
Realizing the path he wanted to take, Dr. Randall returned home to complete a sports medicine fellowship at the University of Oklahoma. After that, he headed back to Lawrence to take a position with the Jayhawks.
Since 1996, Dr. Randall has served as part of Kansas Athletics Sports Medicine as a team physician, being named head orthopedic surgeon for more than 500 student-athletes in 2001. In 2009, he was named one of the nation's top 25 knee surgeons by Becker's Orthopedic & Spine Review. While at the University of Kansas, he also served as an adjunct professor involved with research in exercise physiology and as an orthopedic surgeon at OrthoKansas, LLC.
Through 20 years of private practice, Dr. Randall had a career goal of becoming involved in academic medicine and passing along the knowledge from the generation before him to the next generation of sports medicine physicians. To fulfill this goal, in 2016, Dr. Randall joined The University of Kansas Health System, opening a new location for the Sports Medicine and Performance Center in Lawrence, Kansas.
He continues his work with the university’s athletic department while offering the same top-tier sports medicine care to athletes of all ages and skill levels in the community.
"Our goal is to provide state-of-the-art sports medicine care to everyone," he says.
Dr. Randall and his wife, Kelly, married for more than 30 years, have 3 sons – Hogan, Preston and Reese. They reside in Lawrence, where they enjoy ranching, working with cattle and pursuing fitness.