Biography

Dr. James Saucedo is an Associate Professor of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. Dr. Saucedo grew up near Houston in Rosenberg, Texas. As an undergraduate at Baylor University, he was active in various organizations, including Habitat for Humanity and the pre-medical honor society.  In addition to his pre-medical focus, he studied world cultures, world literature and international human rights. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society as a junior and graduated summa cum laude as a University Scholars major in 2003.

Dr. Saucedo achieved his MD at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas in 2008 where his classmates named him “Most Likely to Make Your Day”.  Even as a student, he recognized the need to better understand the health care system and enrolled at the Jesse H. Jones School of Business at Rice University, where he earned a Masters of Business Administration in 2007.

Dr. James Saucedo completed his Orthopedic Surgery Residency in Chicago, Illinois at Northwestern University in 2013, where he was awarded the Brian Hartigan, MD Award for compassionate care, clinical excellence, and commitment to teaching.  He went on to complete his Hand and Microvascular Surgery Fellowship at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington in 2014 where he learned from Orthopedic and Plastic Surgeons to care for patients with conditions ranging from severe trauma at Harborview Medical Center to children with congenital hand differences at Seattle Children’s Hospital. 

During residency, he worked with his mentors to develop a “Business of Orthopedics Lecture Series” that invited speakers to lecture on practice management topics often left out of traditional medical curricula. Based on the success of the program, Dr. Saucedo was later asked to help develop a similar series that could be distributed to other residency programs.  

He remains involved with various medical organizations, including the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) and the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), where he serves on the leadership council as the Practice Division Director, a position that helps support and coordinate 11 volunteer committees and places him on the Board of Specialty Societies (BOS), where he represents the ASSH and co-chairs the Professionalism Committee.  He is especially excited to be working with other ASSH members and staff to develop a comprehensive online practice management education resource for its members, called Hand-P, which was launched in 2022, as well as another endeavor that focuses on improving access to quality upper extremity care for patients from all backgrounds.  

He practiced in San Antonio from 2014 to 2019 at The Hand Center of San Antonio and part-time at the Audie Murphy VA Hospital from 2016 to 2019, where he maintained a busy clinical practice and helped train residents and fellows.  He also created an elective program for Orthopedic Surgery Residents from Madrid, Spain through which they can travel to the United States to gain more experience in Hand and Wrist Surgery through observation and various hands-on labs.  

He now lives in The Woodlands, Texas with his college sweetheart and three beautiful and talented children.    

He loves teaching and presenting in various settings, and he enjoys spending his free time with his family, listening to music and roasting coffee.

Education

Undergraduate Degree
Baylor University, Waco, Texas
Graduate Degree
Masters of Business Administration, Rice University, Houston Texas
Medical Degree
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Residency
Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
Fellowship
Hand and Microvascular Surgery University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington

Areas of Interest

Clinical Interests

  • Complex fractures and dislocations of the hand and wrist
  • Sports injuries of the hand and wrist
  • Ulnar-sided wrist pain (TFCC injuries and tendonitis)
  • Acute and chronic injuries of the distal radial-ulnar joint (DRUJ)
  • Arthroscopic wrist surgery
  • Tendon and nerve injuries of the hand, wrist and elbow
  • Hand numbness and tingling (carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndrome)
  • Scaphoid and other carpal fractures
  • Thumb, hand and wrist arthritis
  • Tendonitis (such as trigger finger, de Quervain’s and tennis elbow)
    **Congenital hand differences

Research Interests

  • Hand and wrist trauma (treatment, outcomes, biomechanics, prevention)
  • Improving access to upper extremity care for vulnerable populations
  • Practice management and business education for medical students, residents and physicians
  • Cost and quality in health care
  • Understanding patient and provider experience
  • Optimizing education and training of residents and fellows

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journals

“Bridge plating in the setting of radiocarpal instability: Does distal fixation to the second or third metacarpal matter? A cadaveric study.”Tabeayo E, Saucedo JM, Srinivasan RC, Shah AR, Karamanos E, Rockwood J, Rodriguez-Merchan EC Published by World Journal of Orthopedics April 2023

“Providing Orthopaedic Care to Vulnerably Underserved Patients: AOA Critical Issues” Handcox JE, Saucedo JM, Rose RA, Corley FG, Brady CI Published by Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery American June 2022

“Incorporating Office-Based Surgery Into Your Practice with WALANT.”E Tan, HM Bamberger, J Saucedo Published by Journal of Hand Surgery American October 2020   

“Providing Hand Surgery Care to the Vulnerably Uninsured Patient” CI Brady, JM Saucedo Published by Hand Clinics May 2020

“Bridge Plating for Distal Radius Fractures in Low-Demand Patients with Assist Devices” BT Hyatt, DP Hanel, JM Saucedo Published by the Journal of Hand Surgery American June 2019

“Screw Fixation Alone for Scaphoid Fracture Nonunion” SMC Ernst, DP Green, JM Saucedo Published by the Journal of Hand Surgery American June 2018

“Bedside Procedures in Hand Surgery” BT Hyatt, JM Saucedo Published by the Journal of Hand Surgery American May 2018

“Total Elbow Arthroplasty in Hemophilia” TM Dale, JM Saucedo, EC Rodríguez-Merchán Published by Haemophilia April 2018

“Integrating Business Education in Medical Schools: A Multicenter Survey” TR Wanke, JL McDevitt, MJ Jung, M Meyer, L Puri, CM Gonzalez, JM Saucedo Published by Physician Leadership Journal November/December 2015

“Hemophilic Arthropathy of the Elbow: Prophylaxis, Imaging and the Role of Invasive Management.” TM Dale, JM Saucedo, EC Rodríguez-Merchán Published by The Journal of Shoulder & Elbow Surgery October 2015

“Surgical Techniques for Correction of Traumatic Hyperextension Instability of the Proximal Interphalangeal Joint: A Biomechanical Study” A Micev, JM Saucedo, D Kalainov, L Wang, M Ma, M Yaffe,  Published by the Journal of Hand Surgery American August 2015

“Firework-Related Injuries of the Hand: Evaluation and Management” JM Saucedo, NB Vedder Published in the Journal of Hand Surgery American February 2015

“Understanding Readmission After Primary Total Hip and Total Knee Arthroplasty: Who’s at Risk?” JM Saucedo, GS Marecek, TR Wanke, J Lee, SD Stulberg, L Puri Published in The Journal of Arthroplasty February 2014

“How accurately are we coding readmission diagnoses after total joint arthroplasty?” JM Saucedo, GS Marecek, J Lee, L Huminiak, SD Stulberg, L Puri Published in The Journal of Arthroplasty August 2013

“Platelet-Rich Plasma” JM Saucedo, M Yaffe, J Berschback, W Hsu, D Kalainov Published in the Journal of Hand Surgery American March 2012

“Non-locked and Locked Plating Technology for Hand Fractures” M Yaffe, JM Saucedo, D Kalainov Published in the Journal of Hand Surgery American December 2011

Book Chapters / Sections

“Revision Shoulder Arthroplasty: Epidemiology and Causes” ED Tabeayo, KI Gruson, JM Saucedo Revision Total Joint Arthroplasty Edited by E Carlos Rodriguez-Merchan Accepted and In Press with Springer Nature Switzerland AG

“Common Errors of Volar Plate Fixation” RJ Medoff, JM Saucedo IFSSH 2019 Instruction Book: Distal Radius Fractures and Carpal Instabilities Edited by Francisco del Pinal Accepted and In Press, International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand

“Treatment of the Chronically Unstable Elbow: Coronoid Reconstruction with Radial Head and Olecranon Osteochondral Grafts” JM Saucedo, C Kalbakdij, R Barco, SA Antuna Surgical Techniques for Sports-related Injuries of the Elbow Edited by Gregory Bain Accepted and In Press, International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery & Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS)

“Treatment of the Chronically Subluxated Elbow (Persistent Elbow Instability)”C Kalbakdij, JM Saucedo, R Barco, SA Antuna The Unstable Elbow: An Evidence-Based Approach to Evaluation and Management Edited by Robert T. Tashjian Published by Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

“Nail and Nail Bed Injuries”  S Jensen, A Perreira, JM Saucedo, RC Srinivasan, DP Green Clinical Decision Support: Sports Medicine Edited by D Drez and J DeLee Published by Decision Support in Medicine, LLC, Wilmington, DE 2015.

 “Scaphoid Fractures” F Ahmad, A Perreira, JM Saucedo, RC Srinivasan, DP Green  Clinical Decision Support: Sports Medicine  Edited by D Drez D and J DeLee Published by Decision Support in Medicine, LLC, Wilmington, DE 2015.

“Other Carpal Fractures (Including hook of hamate, pisiform)”  JM Saucedo, T Wiedrich Comprehensive Care of the High Level Athlete: A Master Skills Publication Edited by C Goldfarb Published by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand 2014.

“Introduction to Tumor.” JM SaucedoPocket Orthopaedic Surgery. Edited by J Boughanem and RR Shah. Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2015.