Director of the Non-surgical Foot and Ankle Service, Hospital for Special Surgery

Dr. Rock G. Positano has been on staff at HSS since 1991 and is nationally known for his non-surgical approach for the treatment of foot disorders. He serves in the capacity of Director of the Non-surgical Foot and Ankle Service at Hospital for Special Surgery. Dr. Positano was featured on the front page of the New York Times (Dec. 7, 2003) in an article concerning the dangers of cosmetic foot surgery. He recently authored and edited an orthopedic/medical textbook with Dr. Chitranjan Ranawat entitled Disorders of the Heel, Rearfoot and Ankle which was cited in the prestigious Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery as a recommended book of interest for clinicians. His thesis on Foot Health was approved with "Honors" and "With Distinction" by the faculty of Yale University School of Medicine.

Appointments

• Director and Founder, Joe DiMaggio Sports Medicine Foot and Ankle Center
• Director and Founder, The Non-surgical Foot and Ankle Service, Department of Orthopaedics, Hospital for Special Surgery
• Director, The Foot Center / Sports Medicine, Orthopedic Trauma Service, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical College
• Clinical Assistant Professor, Weill Cornell Medical College
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Applied Biomechanics, Albert Nerken School of Engineering, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
• Director of Non-Surgical Foot and Ankle Service/Department of Orthopedics, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Warren Albert Medical School of Brown University
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Medicine/College of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
• Professor and Chairman, Department of Academic Orthopedic Surgery, New York College of Podiatric Medicine / Foot Center of New York

Specialty

Physiatry

Podiatry

Subspecialty

Foot
Ankle
Sports Medicine
Trauma

Affiliations

Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service
Orthopedic Trauma Service 
Spine Care Institute
The New York Mets, Foot and Ankle Consultant
The New York Giants, Foot and Ankle Consultant
Limb Lengthening and Deformity Service
The Associated Press, Sports Medicine Consultant (Foot and Ankle)
CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, FOX, PAX, Television Foot Consultant
New York Daily News, Weekly Sports Medicine Columnist
The Huffington Post, Weekly Health Columnist
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City of New York (Forensic Identification), Consultant

Specialized Centers

• The Non-surgical Foot and Ankle Service

Education

MPH, Yale School of Medicine - Master of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut
DPM, New York College of Podiatric Medicine - Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, New York
MSc, NYU School of Medicine - Master of Science, New York

Fellowship

Foot Clinics of New York, New York
Yale School of Medicine
NYU Medical Center- Institute of Environmental Medicine, New York

State Licensure

New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island

Rock G. Positano, DPM, MSc, MPH has contributed to the following articles on HSS.edu:

Selected Publications

For more publications, please see the PubMed listing.

Selected Books/Chapters

Disorders of the Heel, Rearfoot, and Ankle
Foot and Ankle Sports Medicine (in progress)
Textbook of Musculoskeletal Physiatry (in press)
Atlas of Foot and Ankle Sonography
Medical Clinics of North America- Environmental Medicine
Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery- Applied Biomechanics
Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery- Occupational Medicine
Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery- Nail Disorders  

Research Interests

• Development of non-surgical treatment programs for foot and ankle problems
• Framingham Foot Study that studies the incidence and development of foot and ankle disorders in the general population
• Development of new prescription foot orthoses prototypes for the non-surgical treatment of foot and ankle problems
• Development of prescription foot orthoses prototypes for the treatment of lower extremity musculoskeletal problems such as biomechanical disorders of the back, knee, hip, and lower leg
• Creation of joint preservation strategies for the foot, ankle, knee, hip, and back
• Prevention of both foot injury and arthritis progression in the foot and ankle
• Establishment of public health protocols to preempt the development of foot and ankle ailments
• Development of sport-specific orthotic devices (tennis, golf, sneakers, etc.) to increase performance and decrease injury