Dr. Joseph Guettler

Dr. Joe Guettler is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine.  Dr. Guettler graduated from Valparaiso University with his B.S. in 1992.  At Valparaiso, he was also a four-year Division I collegiate wrestler.  He then earned his medical degree from Northwestern University in 1996 and completed a Residency in Orthopedic Surgery at Beaumont Hospital in 2001.  He subsequently served as Sports Medicine Fellow at Duke University from 2001 to 2002.  He has cared for athletes at all levels of competition during his training and 14 years of practice.  He has served as team physician for Duke University Athletics, the Carolina Cobras, North Carolina Central University, Oakland University Athletics, and Rochester College Athletics.  He has also served as a consultant for both the Women’s National and Junior National Soccer Teams. 

Dr. Guettler is the co-founder and senior partner at Performance Orthopedics, where he has practiced for the past 21 years. He is a member of the Orthopedic staff at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak where he is active in teaching and research, and he performs surgery at Beaumont Royal Oak and Unisource Surgical Center in Troy.

Dr. Guettler’s clinical interests include: 

• Arthroscopic Surgery of the Shoulder, Elbow and Knee
• Adolescent Sports Injuries
• Rotator Cuff and Labral Repair
• Knee Injuries in Female Athletes – Including Gender-specific ACL Reconstruction 
• Shoulder and Elbow Reconstruction in Throwing Athletes 
• ACL, PCL, and Multi-ligament Knee Reconstruction 
• Advanced Cartilage Restoration
• Meniscal Repair and Transplantation  
• Minimally Invasive Clavicle Fracture Fixation
• Treatment of Sports-related Fractures
• Muscle and Tendon Repair (Biceps, Achilles, Hamstrings, Patellar tendon, etc.) 
• Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) and Stem Cell Augmentation of Healing

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Guettler believes in leadership, teaching, research, and community outreach: 

From a leadership standpoint, he is a past President of the Detroit Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, as well as a current Board Member and past President of the Michigan Orthopaedic Society.  He also recently served on the Research Board of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) and on the Society’s Education Committee.  In addition, he has served as AOSSM’s liaison to the National Athletic Trainers Association.  He recently finished serving a two-year term as a Member of the AOSSM Board of Directors.

Teaching is another vital component of Dr. Guettler’s practice of medicine.  On the national level, he is a surgical instructor at the Orthopedic Learning Center in Rosemont, Illinois, teaching the latest techniques to surgeons from around the nation and world.  He has a dual professorship at Oakland University, serving as an Associate Clinical Professor through the School of Health Sciences, as well as the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.  He also actively teaches the residents and fellows at Beaumont Hospital – on a daily basis – exposing them to the latest approaches in the sports medicine care of athletes and active individuals.

Dr. Guettler is proud that he has been able to balance a vibrant clinical practice with his strong research interests over the past decade.  At any given time, Dr. Guettler is involved in at least 5 to 6 clinical and laboratory studies.  Current research projects include cartilage restoration, ACL healing, rotator cuff repair, identification of patients at risk for osteoarthritis, advanced imaging techniques to detect early cartilage injury, and the prevention of throwing injuries in developing baseball pitchers.

Finally, “Dr. Joe” as everyone knows him locally, is proud to have come home to practice, fix all of his old buddies when they “start to fall apart,” and give back to the community that raised him.  From standing on the sidelines of a Royal Oak High School football game on an autumn Friday night, to writing his newspaper column for the local newspaper, to giving a lecture on arthritis to the “old ladies” at church, to putting on an injury prevention clinic for youngsters in downtown Detroit, Dr. Joe has always been – and will continue to be – “game ready.”