About Me.

Rafael Diaz-Garcia, MD, MSHCM, FACS, is a board-certified hand and upper extremity surgeon with Baptist Health Orthopedic Care. He specializes in peripheral nerve surgery to treat neuropathic pain, nerve compression (carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, radial tunnel, etc.), nerve lacerations/injuries as well as brachial plexus pathology, including neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. His clinical interests include the care of high-level athletes, arthroscopy and arthroplasty of the hand and wrist, arthritis, spasticity, treatment of rheumatologic diseases and microsurgical treatment of vascular insufficiency in the upper extremity.

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Prior to joining Baptist Health, he was the director of medical operations and chief of plastic surgery at Allegheny Health Network, in Pittsburgh, PA. He also served as a clinical associate professor of plastic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Diaz-Garcia earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a master’s degree in healthcare management at the Johns Hopkins University – Carey Business School. He completed a general surgery internship and a plastic and reconstructive surgery residency at the University of Michigan Health Systems. His postdoctoral training also includes a hand and upper extremity orthopedic surgery fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of several professional organizations.  

   

Dr. Diaz-Garcia has been named on such prestigious lists as Castle Connolly – Top Doctors. He serves as a reviewer for HAND and regional editor for the Journal of Hand Surgery Global Online and his work in orthopedic hand surgery is widely published in peer-reviewed medical journals. He frequently lectures on the management of nerve injuries in the upper and lower extremities, as well as limb salvage after trauma or cancer. Dr. Diaz-Garcia is an early adopter of targeted muscle reinnervation for the management of neuromas and phantom pain in patients with limb loss. He has more than ten years of experience utilizing this procedure and finds it extremely gratifying to provide pain relief to those who have been told there are no options. Dr. Diaz-Garcia takes time to understand his patients’ goals and educate them on possible outcomes so, together, they can determine the best course of treatment. Whether he is treating athletes so they can return to sport performance or helping stroke patients with spasticity, he says that watching patients improve their quality of life post-operatively is the most rewarding part of his profession.

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Dr. Diaz-Garcia is fluent in English and Spanish. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, reading nonfiction books, boating and traveling with his wife.