Attending Staff

Fellows train with ten surgical foot and ankle specialists, each with different areas of expertise in foot and ankle pathology:

Douglas Blacklidge, DPM, FACFAS

Medical Director,
AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

J. Michael Miller, DPM, FACFAS

Fellowship Director,
AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Brian Elliott, DPM, FACFAS

Major Health Partners

Christopher Winters, DPM, CWS-P

AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Scott Hoffman, DPM, FACFAS

AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Colin Blackburn, DPM, FACFAS

AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Andrew Kapsalis, DPM, AACFAS

AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Wil Adams, DPM, AACFAS

Hancock Orthopedics

Elizabeth Chan, DPM, AACFAS

AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Tyler McKee, DPM, AACFAS

AHN/Optum Foot and Ankle

Douglas Blacklidge, DPM, FACFAS

Transcript

Transcript

Hi. I’m Doug Blacklidge and I have been with American Health Network now Optum since 1997. I did my residency at the Detroit medical center. And then I was with a single specialty group briefly in Indianapolis, before I joined American Health Network in 1997. During the past 24 years, we’ve built a very well-respected group of now nine surgeons and two fellows in Central Indiana. The fellowship, we started in 2004, and my partner, Mike Miller, has been the Fellowship Director since we started it. My practices are in both Kokomo and Lafayette, which are both north of Indianapolis, about 45 minutes or so each, and I do some surgery on the north side of Indianapolis, but my primary locations are Kokomo and Lafayette. In Lafayette, I work at an Indiana University hospital and surgery center, and in Kokomo, I do most of my procedures at a community hospital surgery center.

My job, as far as the fellowship is concerned, I’m the Medical Director of the foot and ankle group with American Health Network, and now Optum. We were purchased by Optum several years ago, so we’re gradually going through the name change. But I’ve been our Medical Director since our group formed, and I provide training for our fellows, both in surgery and in the office two or three days a week. My primary areas of interest, as far as surgery is concerned, my practice is mostly reconstructive surgery, revision reconstructions, which I really enjoy, total ankle replacements, and nerve procedures. I like to take on the non-routine things, and offer my patients solutions to problems where they’ve often sought multiple opinions before I provide them with mine. And I enjoy that kind of challenge and practice that keeps me engaged.

And, I think our fellows and the residents that we work with, I like to challenge them to think about always why we do things or why we do what we do, And it’s that type of practice that I have. I’ve asked myself that, why I’m doing this or why I’m doing that, or why I’m doing it this way or that way, and I like to have this kind of conversations throughout the times that I get with our fellows.

What makes our fellowship unique, we have a group, a diverse group of people that are very dedicated to educating the future of foot and ankle surgery. It started with myself and Mike Miller, and it’s evolved now to a much bigger group. And I’m very proud of the group that we have, and I’m proud of our fellowship program. I think that we provide an incredible opportunity and a top-tier level of training for a one-year fellowship after somebody has completed a three-year residency in foot and ankle surgery.

So, we appreciate your interest in the program, and if you have any questions for any of us, feel free to reach out. Thank you.

J. Michael Miller, DPM, FACFAS

Transcript

Transcript

Hello, welcome to American Health Network’s Foot & Ankle Reconstructive Fellowship. I’m Dr. Mike Miller, I’m the director of our program. Just thought I’d give you a little introduction about our program. Here, sunny Indiana, a beautiful day out here. We started our program back in 2003. Basically we had a group of foot and ankle fellowship-trained pediatric surgeons in our group, and we were doing some nice reconstructive cases but weren’t really able to share that experience with anyone. We had residency programs in the area, but we were all just geographically dispersed. So we established the fellowship, one of the first foot and ankle fellowships in our profession back in the day. Since 2003, we’ve matriculated 20 fellows. The most recent history, we’ve had two fellows the past few years. It’s a wonderful opportunity and ministry for us to give back, and that’s why we established it.

Myself and Dr. Doug Blacklidge kind of started our group, American Health Network, which is a large multi-specialty group, probably 60% family practice primary care and 40% specialty. We were one of the first specialists or specialty programs within our group. Since then, we’ve been acquired through Optum, which has given us a great opportunity financially to really do what we want to do with the program and with our practices. It’s been a blessing. The physicians that we have, there’s 10 of us, they’re foot and ankle surgeons. Again, most of us are fellowship-trained, myself, Dr. Doug Blacklidge, Dr. Brian Elliott, Dr. Christopher Winters, Dr. Scott Hoffman, who was actually one of our fellows about 10 years ago, we kept him with our group. He’s excellent. Drew Kapsalis and Will Adams are some of our most recent fellows. Drew’s with our group. Will Adams is with a different hospital, but he is part of the program.

Colin Blackburn and Charles Sisovsky are some of our partners. One is down in Southern Indiana and then one up in Kokomo. And then Lizzie Chan just recently joined us as well. So there’s 10 foot and ankle surgeons. We do over 2000 reconstructive procedures a year. So great volume. Both of our fellows this year will get over 400 cases. They have opportunity for research. We encourage that. This is the window in your life to do research and, again, give back to the profession. And what I encourage you to do is each fellowship offers different parameters of education. Ours is a fellow first program. Basically I direct the fellows into what their interests are. If it’s trauma, if it’s reconstructive surgery, we all do kind of some specialty foot and ankle procedures, from total ankles to, I do mostly reconstructive and pediatric. Brian Elliott does a lot of trauma, so does Will Adams and Drew.

So nice variety. And basically the week consists of the fellow picking out what cases that they want to do based on their interest. We’ve had fellows come in with wonderful skills and education background. We’ve had some from three-year programs that maybe aren’t as educated or as well-versed in surgery. So my job is to take them sometimes from one level to huge experience and improvement, and sometimes it’s just fine-tuning those skills. So look into these fellowship programs and what’s best for you. Please reach out to us, either myself or most importantly the current fellows, to really get the scoop on what the fellowship’s all about. And I appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you.

 

Brian Elliott, DPM, FACFAS

Transcript

Transcript

Hi, my name is Brian Elliott, DPM. I have been with the fellowship since the beginning of the fellowship. My job here at the fellowship, I run the major hospital portion of the fellowship. As many of you know, there’s two spots, one of which is funded through American Health Network or Optum Health. The other is through major health partners. My primary interests at the fellowship, are arthroscopy, trauma and reconstruction. What else? I have a secondary interest in a nerve. I’ve been part of the program, as I said, since the beginning, the program first formed in 2002, 2003. And I think this fellowship is unique compared to other fellowships, because this is a fellowship or a fellow first program. We feel like residents have already done their time being residents. And we feel like the focus of this program is on the fellow learning. We don’t tend to try to load fellows down with a bunch of busy work that really doesn’t help them learn. We allow the fellows to pick and choose where they go and pursue their own interests.

Scott Hoffman, DPM, FACFAS

Transcript

Transcript

Hello, my name is Scott Hoffman and I am one of the attendings here at the foot and ankle reconstructive surgery fellowship program in Indianapolis. I’ve been with the program training fellows since 2015. And I have somewhat of a unique experience in that immediately prior to that, I served as the fellow for a full year. So I have insight both as the fellow and now as an attending. I think one of the things that sets this fellowship program apart is the freedom that’s given to fellows. So with that, you’re able to focus on the things that are most important to you.

On any given day, there could be a number of different surgeons involved with our program that are operating and as the fellow, or if there’s two fellows, the two of you will get to pick and choose what surgeries do you want to be at? Where do you think that you’re going to gain the most at? And basically over time, then that’s how you will acquire your skills and benefit the most for your career. Another advantage of our fellowship program, I believe is that we have multiple attendings, the overwhelming majority of which are fellowship trained either through our own one-year fellowship or through other fellowships including in Europe. Because of that they’re very well-trained doctors, they come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. So you’re going to see quality cases, but you’re also going to see different ways to approach those quality cases. And the more and more of that you guys see throughout your training, the better you’re going to be equipped, filling up your toolbox for practice.

I can tell you having been in practice after my residency and my one year in fellowship, there hasn’t been a single case or a single patient that I’ve seen in clinic where I wasn’t able to come up with some sort of plan. I may not have performed that exact case in the exact same manner before, but at least I had seen so many different ways to approach different pathology and the feeling of being prepared and confident coming into cases is something that I attribute very, very much to this fellowship program. My personal interests, I guess, span the whole gamut. I do a lot of elective surgery, elective reconstructive, whether it’s forefoot or a rearfoot. But then just a little bit of everything. I like to consider myself a hybrid of some of the other attendings in our group that were around to train me. I have a big background with sports medicine as well.

I’ve been a competitive runner for most of my life. So that’s part of my passion that drew me to the field of podiatric medicine, just having injured myself many times and gone through that process. So that’s one area of interest for me. I may be biased but having participated in this fellowship, I can’t say enough about how great of an experience it was. It basically set my life forward so many years ahead of where I had thought I might be. Starting day one of practice I felt confident, prepared that I’d be able to handle anything that came into the office. The diversity of attendings, all the different strategies, ways of approaching cases, different ways of fixating, different ways of dissecting everything. It allowed me to pick and choose what works best for me, what works best in my hands.

Andrew Kapsalis, DPM, AACFAS

Transcript

Transcript

Hi, my name is Drew Kapsalis. I’m with the American Health Network Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgical Fellowship here in Indianapolis area. My practices are based out of Greenfield and Muncie, which are kind of East Side, Northeast side of central Indiana. I am a research coordinator here at the fellowship. In a past fellow, I graduated in 2018, alongside co-fellow, Will Adams who works in Greenfield as well. The one in a different location. My areas of interest within the program are reconstruction, deformity correction. I enjoy pediatrics and nerve surgery, as well as some sports medicine here and there. Otherwise, how long I’ve been with the program? I kind of stated I graduated here in 2018, joined right afterward, and have been here ever since.

Why I think this fellowship is unique compared to others? It’s fellow first, fellow driven, so you get out what you put in, ultimately. It’s run and organized by a ton of attendings who are extremely ethical, very cost-effective, and very family oriented. I grew up in a big giant Greek family, and all I know is family has the code, just like Vin Diesel, family is my mantra in life. And so, I just felt like I really fit in here and that’s a big thing for most people, I believe. And so, ultimately, all the attendings here have been trained through fellowships, whether it’s within the nation here, East Coast, West Coast, this fellowship itself, or even in Europe, such as in Germany or Austria.

So, we don’t just have national ideals, we have global ideals. And even those trained here at this program, such as myself or Dr. Hoffman, we are technically hybrids of all of the above. However, we still practice completely independently of each other and have different ideas. And so, you’re getting different training from each attending, without any sort of inbreeding, which is pretty outstanding to me. Otherwise, having done this fellowship, it a 100% changed my life. I cannot imagine going through what I’m doing without having done the fellowship. It’s not meant to be an additional residency year, it’s meant to be fine tuning certain skills and honing certain things and getting out of it what you need. And so, not doing dictations and documentation and the mumbo-jumbo that residents are made to do. You get to focus on the surgery and your learning and your research and you get out of it everything that you possibly can. So, we hope that you want to stop by and learn some things in person and actually join our fellowship. Thank you.

Wil Adams, DPM, AACFAS

Transcript

Transcript

My name is Wil Adams. I work at Hancock Regional Hospital. I practice in the orthopedic group here at the hospital, and I’ve been doing so since I finished my fellowship at American Health Network in 2018. I’ve really enjoyed getting to participate in the fellowship, both as a fellow myself, like I said, four years ago, but now as an attending., It’s been really fulfilling and enjoyable to get to be the fellow, and then train the fellows, and get to see both sides of the coin, so to speak.

I think one thing that sets our fellowship apart from some of the other fellowships around the country is that it is a multi-surgeon fellowship. Fellows come in and they get to train with multiple attendings that have multiple different ways of doing things. And I think that that is a big benefit for somebody that is coming in and looking to advance their skillset and to learn, and to see a different way of doing things. I think that it’s important for somebody to learn the ability to think on the fly, and to see how multiple different people do that, and not just get habituated to the way that one person does that. And so I think that anytime there’s opportunity for somebody to receive education and training from a multi-surgeon fellowship, I do think that makes us unique and sets us apart from some of the other programs, where there’s only one attending or two that is available to scrub surgeries with.

I think another unique aspect to the fellowship at American Health Network is that the attendings practice in a variety of settings. Myself and Dr. Brian Elliott both worked for orthopedic groups. The other attendings all work for American Health Network. And so I think that, as a fellow, it’s not only important to learn surgical skills, but it’s also neat for fellows to have the opportunity to come to clinic when they have time off and they’re not doing research, for them to see how we function on a daily basis and interact with staff, and see patients in different settings.

Lastly, in terms of what I focus on and what I enjoy on a day-to-day basis, is probably the high volume of revision cases we do. I think myself and the other attendings get to see and do a lot of cases that are coming to us as either a second opinion or looking for answers maybe that weren’t provided to them somewhere else. And so, I think that that provides the fellows a good, unique opportunity to be involved with cases where we have to come up with a little bit more innovative ways to fix things and to approach them, that you may not necessarily find somewhere else. We tend to be pretty spread out around the Indianapolis areas, and so there’s a unique and diverse patient demographic that we’re able to draw from. And so I think all of those are things that make our fellowship unique and special, and make it a really great process and thing to be a part of.

Douglas Blacklidge, DPM, FACFAS

Education & Training
Fellowship Training
AO Trauma/Reconstructive Surgery, Mainz, Germany

Residency
Foot and Ankle Surgery,
Detroit Medical Center, PSR-36 months

Medical Degree
Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine
Salutatorian and Awarded Outstanding Student of Surgery

Undergraduate Degree
BS Biological Sciences, Purdue University

Practice and Hospital Affiliations
American Health Network since 1997
Kokomo: Community Howard Regional, St. Vincent-Kokomo
Lafayette: IU Health Arnett
Carmel: IU Health North, Beltway Surgery Center

 

 

Memberships & Associations

  • Fellow, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
  • Diplomat, American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery
  • Member, American Podiatric Medical Association
  • Member, Indiana Podiatric Medical Association
  • Fellow, Association of Extremity Nerve Surgeons

Medical Interests
Primary Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgery, Revisional Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgery, Ankle Joint Replacement, Peripheral Nerve Surgery, Medical Device Development

Hobbies & Interests
Cycling/Fitness, Water Sports/Boating, Snow Skiing, Hunting, Family Time

Location(s)
2341 W Lincoln Rd, Kokomo, IN 46902
3743 Landmark Dr, Lafayette, IN 47905

Contact Information
douglas_blacklidge@ahni.com

J. Michael Miller, DPM, FACFAS

Education
Medical Degree
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, Chicago Illinois 1992
Honors: Valedictorian, Summa Cum Laude

Undergraduate Degree
Bachelor of Arts/Chemistry, Indiana University,
Honors: Cum Laude, Bloomington, IN

Residency
Loyola University Medical Center, Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery – Podiatric Surgery, PSR-24

Teaching Appointments
Director of Fellowship Training, Foot and Ankle
Reconstructive Surgery – American Health Network
AO Faculty Instructor for Foot & Ankle Surgery

Specialized Training
Fellowship in AO Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery,
University of Washington/Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington

Medical Interests
Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgery,
Sports Medicine, Pediatric Foot Problems

Location(s)
8607 E US Highway 36, Avon, IN 46123
12174 N Meridian St, Ste 100, Carmel, IN 46032

Contact Information
jmm@jmichaelmiller.com

Brian Elliott, DPM, FACFAS

Education
Medical Degree
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, Cum Laude

Undergraduate Degree
Bachelor of Science, Biology
State University of New York, Brockport, New York

Residency
Winona Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana
Chief Resident in Foot and Ankle Surgery, PSR 36

Fellowship
AO Trauma Fellowship Trauma and Reconstruction, University Clinic Graz, Graz, Austria

Duke University Mini Plastics Fellowship

Medical Interests

  • Reconstructive Foot and Ankle Surgery, Arthroscopy,
  • Complex Revision Surgery, Sports Medicine, Arthroscopic
  • Ankle Fusions

Memberships & Affiliations
Indiana American Health Network Foot & Ankle

Surgery Fellowship attending 2002 – present 

Location(s)
275 W Bassett Rd Suite 4,
Shelbyville, IN 46176

Christopher Winters, DPM, CWS-P

Education
Medical Degree
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine,
Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, 1996, Chicago, IL

Undergraduate Degree
B.A. Spanish, Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington 1991

Residency
Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 1996-99

Board Certification

  • Board Certified in Wound Care – Council on Medical Education & Testing
  • Board Certified in Prevention and Treatment of Diabetic Foot Wounds and Foot Wear – American
  • Board of Multiple Specialties in Podiatry
  • Certified Wound Specialist-Physician (CWS-P) – American Board of Wound Management

 

Experience

  • Began practice in 1999
  • Residency Director- 2011-19 Podiatric Medicine & Surgery- Ascension St. Vincent Hospital, 86th St.

Membership
Fellow, American College of Certified Wound Specialists, Association for the Advancement of Wound Care, Indiana and American Podiatric Medical Association 

Medical Interests
Diabetic Foot, Wound Care, Ulcers, Limb Salvage, Inpatient Hospital Care

Hobbies and Interests
Tennis, Kayak, Travel, Gardening, Languages

Location(s)
8607 E US Highway 36, Avon, IN 46123
12174 N Meridian St, Ste 100, Carmel, IN 46032
7151 Marsh Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46278

Scott Hoffman, DPM, FACFAS

Education & Training
Fellowship Training
American Health Network Foot & Ankle
Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship – Indianapolis, IN

Residency
St. John Hospital and Medical Center – Detroit, MI – Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Residency with Reconstructive Rearfoot/Ankle Surgery (PMSR/RRA)

Medical Degree
Des Moines University – College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery – Des Moines, IA – Honors: Salutatorian (GPA: 4.00/4.00), Pi Delta National
Podiatric Honor Society, awarded CPMS Academic Excellence Awards as top student in Medical Physiology, Anatomy, and Biochemistry

Undergraduate Degree
BS Finance, University of Illinois – Champaign, IL – Graduated with Honors

Memberships & Associations
Fellow, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
Member, American Podiatric Medical Association

Medical Interests
Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgery; Sports Medicine & Management of Running Injuries; Pediatric Foot and Ankle Care; Trauma of the Foot and Ankle

Location(s)
8607 E US Highway 36, Ste 100, Avon, IN 46123
12174 N Meridian St, Ste 100, Carmel, IN 46032
7151 Marsh Rd, Ste 150, Indianapolis, IN 46278

Colin Blackburn, DPM, FACFAS

Education & Training
Residency
Podiatric Medicine and Surgery
St. Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis

Medical Degree
Des Moines University
Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Program

Undergraduate Degree
BA, Movement and Sports Science, Purdue University

Practice and Hospital Affiliations
American Health Network since 2015
Kokomo: Community Howard Regional, St. Joseph/St. Vincent
Lafayette: IU Arnett

Medical Interests
All aspects of foot and ankle care including limb salvage and reconstruction.

Hobbies & Interests
Tennis, Motorcycles, Racing, Shooting Sports

Location(s)
2341 W Lincoln Rd, Kokomo, IN 46902
3743 Landmark Dr, Lafayette, IN 47905

Andrew Kapsalis, DPM, AACFAS

Education
Fellowship Training
Reconstructive Foot & Ankle Surgery
American Health Network, Indianapolis, IN

Residency
Podiatric Medicine and Surgery
Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL
Affiliation with Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital, Hines, IL

Medical Degree
Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, North Chicago, IL

Undergraduate Degree
Bachelor of Arts / Biology
Wabash College, Crawfordsville, IN

 

 

Practice & Hospital Affiliations

    • Greenfield: Hancock Regional Hospital & Surgery Center
    • Muncie: Optum Surgery Center
    • Anderson: Ascension St Vincent & CIO Anderson Surgery Center
    • Anderson: Community Anderson Hospital

Medical Interests
Foot & Ankle Reconstructive Surgery, Sports Medicine, Pediatric Foot Conditions, Peripheral Nerve Surgery

Personal Interests
Soccer, Fitness, Traveling, Cooking, Time with Family

Location(s)
300 E Boyd Ave, Ste 110, Greenfield, IN 46140
3631 N Morrison Rd, Muncie, IN 47304 

Contact Information
andrew_kapsalis@ahni.com

Wil Adams, DPM, AACFAS

Education
Fellowship Training
American Health Network Foot & Ankle
Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship, Indianapolis, IN

Chief Resident
Community Health Network
Foot and Ankle Surgery, 2014-2017

Medical Degree
Kent State University – Doctor of Podiatric Medicine, 2014

Undergraduate Degree
Indiana University, 2010

Memberships & Associations

  • American Podiatric Medical Association
  • American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons
  • American Academy of Podiatric Medicine.

Medical Interests

  • General foot and ankle surgery
  • Reconstructive foot and ankle surgery
  • Total ankle replacement
  • Arthroscopic surgery
  • Limb salvage
  • Adult and pediatric acquired foot and ankle deformities

Location(s)
1 Memorial Square #2100,
Greenfield, IN 46140

Contact Information
wiladams.com

Elizabeth Chan, DPM, AACFAS

Education
Medical Degree
Des Moines University College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery

Residency
The Jewish Hospital of Mercy Health: Podiatric Medicine and Surgery

Undergraduate Degree
University of Colorado at Boulder: Integrative Physiology, Psychology

Professional Affiliations
Member, American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons | 2010-Present
Member, American Podiatric Medical Association | 2010-Present

Languages spoken
English, Cantonese, Mandarin

Medical Interests
Sports injury, foot & ankle trauma, heel pain, forefoot and rearfoot reconstruction, pediatric care, limb salvage

Philosophy of care
Dr. Chan strives to provide highest quality care by ensuring her patients to have a pleasant and comfortable experience during their visit while meeting her patients’ needs, expectations, and concerns. She values her patients’ trust by building relationships with her patients and educating her patients in order to help improve their quality of life.

Location(s)
2341 W Lincoln Rd, Kokomo, IN 46902
1310 S Lebanon St, Lebanon, IN 46052
3631 N Morrison Rd, Muncie, IN 47304

Tyler McKee, DPM, AACFAS

Education & Training
Bachelor of Science
Kinesiology- University of Arkansas

Medical Degree
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science-Scholl
College of Podiatric Medicine and Science, Chicago, IL

Fellowship
American Health Network, part of Optum and IU Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgery – Indianapolis, IN

Residency
St. Louis University/SSM Health DePaul, St. Louis, MO

Internship
St. Louis University/SSM Health DePaul, St. Louis, MO

Medical Interests

  • Revisional foot and ankle surgery
  • Management of ankle and foot arthritis – total ankle
  • replacement
  • Trauma – foot and ankle fracture surgery and management
  • Sports medicine ankle arthroscopy
  • Primary corrective foot and ankle surgery
  • Nerve decompression surgery of leg and foot

Location(s)
990 E State Road 44, Franklin, IN 46131