Aug 30, 2026 · 53 min · 11 segments
Today I am joined by Min Kocher, one of the most accomplished academic pediatric orthopedic surgeons of his generation. Min is Chief of the Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital…
Min KocherGuestPabloHostWelcome to the podcast.
You're listening to Straight from the Hip, a podcast brought to you by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.
Today, I'm joined by Min Coker, one of the most accomplished academic pediatric orthopedic surgeons of his generation.
Min is the Chief of Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.
He holds the O'Donnell Family Endowed Chair and is Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
His career has combined clinical practice, research, mentorship, sports medicine, and national leadership in a way that very few people have managed to do.
Many listeners will know his name from the COCA criteria, developed to help distinguish septic arthritis of the hip from transient synovitis in children.
But that's only one part of a much broader career.
He was also early in the development of paediatric sports medicine and sports surgery as a true specialty and in the use of hip arthroscopy in children and adolescents as well as young adults.
What interested me most about this conversation, however, was not one operation or one paper.
It was the art of Min's career and what it tells us about how paediatric orthopaedics has changed.
We talk about the move from experience-based medicine toward evidence and outcomes, how to use clinical rules without allowing them to replace judgment, what sports medicine taught pediatric orthopedic surgery and what pediatric orthopedics can still teach sports medicine, We also talked about academic careers, mentorship, leadership, institutional culture, and how your priorities change when the goal is no longer to simply build your career, but to help build a legacy.
This is a conversation about evidence, judgment, leadership, and the long view of orthopedic surgery.
And now I bring you Nin Coker.
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Welcome to the podcast.
You're listening to Straight from the Hip, a podcast brought to you by the International Hip Dysplasia Institute.
Today, I'm joined by Min Coker, one of the most accomplished academic pediatric orthopedic surgeons of his generation.
Min is the Chief of Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.
He holds the O'Donnell Family Endowed Chair and is Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
His career has combined clinical practice, research, mentorship, sports medicine, and national leadership in a way that very few people have managed to do.
Many listeners will know his name from the COCA criteria, developed to help distinguish septic arthritis of the hip from transient synovitis in children.
But that's only one part of a much broader career.
He was also early in the development of paediatric sports medicine and sports surgery as a true specialty and in the use of hip arthroscopy in children and adolescents as well as young adults.
What interested me most about this conversation, however, was not one operation or one paper.
It was the art of Min's career and what it tells us about how paediatric orthopaedics has changed.
We talk about the move from experience-based medicine toward evidence and outcomes, how to use clinical rules without allowing them to replace judgment, what sports medicine taught pediatric orthopedic surgery and what pediatric orthopedics can still teach sports medicine, We also talked about academic careers, mentorship, leadership, institutional culture, and how your priorities change when the goal is no longer to simply build your career, but to help build a legacy.
This is a conversation about evidence, judgment, leadership, and the long view of orthopedic surgery.
And now I bring you Nin Coker.