Dr. Catherine Shin is an orthopedic surgeon who has been working in Kauai since 2006.  She was with the Bone and Joint Center at Kauai Medical Clinic from 2006-2008 and is now in solo private practice with Orthopedic Specialists Kauai.  She specializes in problems and injuries of the bones and joints, including all fractures.  She has a particular interest in hand conditions.

She is Korean-American and grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area with a mother who was also a doctor, an anesthesiologist.  Her undergraduate training was at Rice University in Houston, Texas where she obtained degrees in both mechanical engineering and English literature.  After working for seven years as an engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area, she became interested in using engineering to enhance the human body and to help disabled people. She completed two graduate programs where she helped design an offroad hand propelled wheelchair and learned to make and fit artificial limbs (prosthetics).

Subsequently, she went to New York City where she received her MD degree at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed a five year orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.  She has published articles in the prosthetic literature as well as in the American Journal of Orthopedics and the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.  Dr. Shin was involved in early studies of volar plating of distal radius (wrist) fractures and has a special interest in carpal tunnel syndrome.  She is the only surgeon performing endoscopic single incision carpal tunnel release in Kauai and has had patients from Maui, the Big Island and Oahu sent for to her for consultation and treatment of hand injuries and other conditions.  She has recently been trained to do percutaneous (in office) Dupuytren's release or needle aponeurotomy.

Her philosophy regarding treating patients is that the more they understand about their injury or condition, the better equipped they are to manage their symptoms.  The more they know about what is happening to them, the less fear and pain they will have and the more confidence they will have in their ability to recover.  Orthopedics is about restoring the maximum function possible.  It is one of the most fulfilling medical specialties in that orthopedic surgeons can often fix things that are irritating, painful or disabling to a patient and allow them to get back to their active lives.  Dr. Shin strongly believes that appropriate treatment  can be either surgical or non-surgical and the informed patient is the doctor's best partner.

She feels blessed to call this beautiful island home and enjoys talking story with her patients.  You might see her hiking around the island with her two dogs or on a stand up paddleboard though very far away from anything resembling a wave.  She loves to travel and speaks enough Spanish and French to treat patients who may only habla espanol or parle francais.  There is not much decent rock to climb safely here, but Dr. Shin would be happy to talk with anyone who would be interested in building a climbing wall or bouldering cave.

No one likes to go to the doctor, but if you have a musculoskeletal condition that is bothering you, please call (808) 245-4800 or 384-1822 for an appointment and Dr. Shin will try to make the visit as pleasant as possible!