Peter F. Armstrong, MD
Dr. Peter F. Armstrong was nominated for the POSNA Hall of Fame by Dr. George Thompson in recognition of his leadership within POSNA, and the Shriners Hospitals for Children for being an exemplary teacher to hundreds of medical students, residents, and fellows, and for being an outstanding clinician. Dr. Armstrong has been an active member of POSNA since 1985 and has been involved on a number of committees including the Core Curriculum Committee, the Research Committee, the Long Range Planning Committee, and the Health Care Delivery Council. He was one of the founding members of the International Pediatric Orthopaedic Think Tank (IPOTT), was on the POSNA Board of Directors from 1988 to 1989, and was also invited by Dr. Thompson to be the 2003 Presidential Guest Speaker at the Annual Meeting. In 2022, he was recognized by the British Society for Children’s Orthopaedic Surgery as the first Honorary Overseas Member and was presented with the John Sharrard Memorial Medal.
Dr. Armstrong received his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario in 1972. He then served in the Canadian Armed Forces in West Germany from 1973 to 1976. He returned to Canada to complete his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Toronto. It was during this time that he met Dr. Thompson who was a clinical fellow at the Hospital for Sick Children. This led to their 45-year friendship. After residency, Dr. Armstrong completed a pediatric orthopaedic surgery fellowship with Dr. Robert Salter at The Hospital for Sick Children. He was selected as one of the American Orthopaedic Association–Canadian Orthopaedic Association North American Traveling Fellows in 1981. Following his fellowship, he joined the orthopaedic staff at The Hospital for Sick Children in 1982 but spent the first 2 years of his practice doing orthopaedic research at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1991, Dr. Armstrong took over from Dr. Sherman Coleman as the Chief of Staff at the Shriners Hospitals for Children–Intermountain in Salt Lake City, UT. He was a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Utah as well as an adjunct professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Physical Therapy.
When thinking about his time in Salt Lake City and looking back over his clinical career, Dr. Armstrong states, “I feel blessed to have been given the great privilege of being able to make a difference in so many children’s lives by doing what I was trained to do by some of the world’s experts in pediatric orthopaedic surgery. Another great blessing is being able to teach others how to look after children with orthopaedic problems properly and safely.”
In 2000, he was selected as the Chief Medical Officer for all 22 Shriners Hospitals and moved to the headquarters in Tampa, FL. He took over from another giant in pediatric orthopaedics, Dr. Newt McCollough. He transitioned into a full-time administrative role and worked tirelessly to significantly improve physician compensation and make more of an emphasis on the quality of healthcare delivery within the Shriners system. As a lifelong educator and student, Dr. Armstrong attended the Kellogg Management Institute in 2004 at Northwestern University, where he learned valuable skills in leadership and business development to be a more effective advocate for high-quality medical care. This was followed by a Leadership for the Physician Executive program at Harvard Medical School in 2006.
In June 2012, he retired from the Shriners system and began a new career as the Chief Medical Officer for OrthoPediatrics, an orthopaedic device company focused on children and adolescents. Dr. Armstrong shared in the company’s vision and was attracted by the integrity of its suite of leaders. As the CMO, Dr. Armstrong focused on improving the quality of pediatric orthopaedic education offerings and served as a surgeon liaison to work with the company’s medical partners to improve the quality and breadth of products specifically designed to treat orthopaedic needs in pediatric patients. He formed the Clinical Education Medical Advisory Board aimed to recruit the highest quality surgeons and educators to help the company in its efforts to play a role in training the next generation of pediatric orthopaedic surgeons.
Dr. Armstrong retired from OrthoPediatrics in March 2021 at the age of 74, but he was not done contributing to the field of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery. He said, “I am passionate about pediatric orthopaedic education and my vision is to help to improve the quality of care of children around the world with orthopaedic conditions through the education of those who provide that care.” With that in mind, in 2018, he established the Foundation for Advancing Pediatric Orthopaedics to try to achieve that goal. At the time of this writing, he still serves as President & Chair of the Foundation. The Foundation has partnered with Oral Roberts University and its Global Learning Center to advance virtual and augmented reality education offerings for pediatric orthopaedics. Dr. Armstrong highlighted some of these educational advances last year when he was invited back to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as the Mercer Rang Visiting Professor.
When asked what advice he has for the next generation, Dr. Armstrong states, “I used to tell the residents and fellows who worked with me: “Medicine, especially academic medicine, is an insatiable mistress. No matter how much you do, you can get the feeling that it is never enough, and you feel pushed to do more and more. You are being seduced away from your spouse and family. You are the one that must draw the line! Don’t sacrifice your family on the altar of success!”
When looking back on his exemplary career, Dr. Armstrong replied, “the greatest accomplishment in my life was when I married the love of my life 53 years ago this year. With her, we have brought four wonderful children into the world. They have brought four great spouses into our family and blessed us with nine beautiful grandchildren! As a Christian, I look back over my life and see how God has been involved in and the reason for all the incredible things I have had the privilege of being and doing. To Him be the glory! My earnest prayer now, at 76, is that He will help me “finish well” as I continue to try to do that which He has called me to do!”
We, as the Hall of Fame Committee, take great pride in inducting Dr. Peter F. Armstrong into the 2023 Class of the POSNA Hall of Fame.
Biography written by Dr. V. Salil Upasani, MD, on behalf of the Hall of Fame Committee. 2023.
