OhioHealth Orthopedic Surgeon Elected as an Active Member of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) Society, One Out of Five in Columbus
OhioHealth Orthopedic Surgeon, Nathaniel K Long, DO, FAOAO, was elected as an active member of The American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) society.
There are five members of ASES in Columbus, with Dr. Long being one of three active members. He is the only physician from OhioHealth to be elected. He officially received his title at ASES’ 2024 annual meeting held in San Antonio, TX, last month.
This recognition signifies that Dr. Long is a leading expert in the field of shoulder and elbow surgery by his own peers. To become an active member, one must be in regular attendance and active in the ASES meetings or forums and show a high level of knowledge in the most recent research and science of shoulder/elbow surgery.
“I am truly honored to be an Active member of this society,” Dr. Long said, “The overall membership is large; however, the number of Active members is very limited.”
There are multiple tiers of the membership. According to the ASES website there are currently 318 Active members, 267 Associate members, 390 Candidate members and 98 shoulder/elbow fellows. ASES is an international organization even though it is called the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons.
Upon graduation from an ASES shoulder/elbow fellowship, physicians have the opportunity to become a candidate member. They then have five years to advance to an Associate member.
“That is a challenging process, and they may not advance,” Dr. Long said, “After becoming an Associate member, one must be elected to Active membership. This is a huge honor to be elected by my peers around the country.”
As an active member, Dr. Long will serve on committees and will be mentoring younger surgeons as well as being a reviewer for the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery. He will also be attending the annual closed meetings in October and specialty day at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons conference each year.
Throughout the process of becoming who he is and where he is now, Dr. Long received his education from University of New England COM, Harvard College, The Ohio State University, Universität Heidelberg, and Heidelberg College.
He was an intern at Botsford Hospital from 2002 to 2003, was in a six-month rotation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in 2004, was an Orthopedic surgery resident at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital from 2003 to 2007 and completed a shoulder and upper extremity fellowship at New Albany Surgical Hospital and OhioHealth Grant Medical Center from 2007 to 2008.
Additionally, Dr. Long was the medical director of shoulder reconstruction at OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, 2008-2023.
One of Dr. Long’s patients is not surprised about this recognition status.
Bill Jingo, 57-years-old, is one of Dr. Long’s patients.
He’s always lived an active lifestyle as a husband, father and colleague at work.
About a year ago, he started experiencing uncomfortable feelings in his shoulder that led him to OhioHealth for treatment. The pain stemmed from a past sports injury that was never treated.
“It was mostly due to pain and from some everyday things that I would do whether at work or at home,” Bill Jingo said, “And then the other one was pain during sleeping, not all the time, but it was bothering me and interrupting my sleep.”
The most telling symptom and an indicator that something wasn’t right, was the loss of strength in Jingo’s shoulder. That not only had an impact on his every-day lifestyle, but work, too.
On Oct. 16, 2023, Jingo had his first consultative visit at the OhioHealth New Albany Medical Campus.
“When the nurse practitioner looked at the x-ray, immediately she said this is a no-brainer, this is osteoarthritis,” Jingo said, “So it was a classic presentation of that, and it was bone on bone, and it was absolutely a replacement situation.”
In January of 2024, Jingo underwent full shoulder replacement surgery by Dr. Long at the OhioHealth Bone and Joint Center.
“This was with a stemless total shoulder system that I and OhioHealth Research Institute helped with the FDA approval for several years ago, known as an IDE trial,” Dr. Long said, “We were one of a few sites around the county participating in this trial. “
“The morning of the surgery, my wife drove me to the Bone and Joint Center and from the minute we stepped in there everybody was very helpful and courteous and friendly, every person we encountered from the check-in to even the security officer at the metal detector was very nice,” Jingo said.
He said it made the surgical experience even better with how attentive and caring the staff during every part of the process and how every question he and his wife had was answered.
“Dr. Long’s reputation on a professional level in terms of how he is as a surgeon, the type of surgeon he is and how much of an expert he is in his field is telling,” Jingo said, “And the fact he helped develop this implant that I have now, shows his knowledge is unmatched in that regard.”
The most important quality Jingo experienced while working with Dr. Long is that he listened and would answer any question he had.
As Jingo continues to make progress towards full recovery, he wants to encourage anyone who may be experiencing similar symptoms or if there’s a gut feeling something is off wherever in the body, to seek help.
It’s surgeons and medical professionals like Dr. Long who are there to help.
“You can see what your options are,” Jingo said. “I think you owe it to yourself at least to understand what your options are, so you don’t have to continue to suffer.”
