Michael F. Blum, M.D., completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1985. He graduated medical school at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham in 1989 and completed an Orthopaedic Surgery Residency in 1995. Dr. Blum began his orthopaedic practice in Alexander City, Alabama, and relocated to Birmingham to become one of the founding owners of Southlake Orthopaedics Sports Medicine and Spine Center. Dr. Blum’s practice has a special emphasis on sports medicine and joint replacement/reconstruction.
St. Vincent’s School of Nursing 1983
University of Alabama Medical School, Birmingham, Alabama 1989
University of Alabama Medical School, Birmingham, Alabama 1991
University of Alabama Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama 1995
I’ve always enjoyed repairing anything not working. I worked as a welder for two years at Ingall Iron Works when I came out of high school. I later went to St. Vincent’s School of Nursing and worked my way through pre-med as a nurse in ICU/CCU at South Highlands Hospital. While working in surgery as a Scrub Tech and Patient Care Assistant (PCA), I was intrigued by Orthopaedics. I love the challenge of re-establishing function. There is no more of a reward in my day than to see someone who could not walk or perform get back to a pain-free, productive lifestyle.
I have been in the medical field for 32 years, and have worked from scrubbing the floors in operating rooms to nursing to orthopaedic surgery. Success in my field is best seen when I have a patient that was unable to function, come back to me walking without pain, or throwing without pain. One of the best compliments I receive is when my patients refer a friend or family member to me. I am truly grateful they have entrusted me with the care of a loved one.
Dr. Bill Bryant and I had been hunting buddies before we joined in starting Southlake Orthopaedics. Every year we would talk about how we would work together if we ever got the opportunity. We seemed to hit it off from the beginning. We shared the same priorities, our love for God, family and our desire to make a difference in the lives around us. Above all, we would always try to do our best to improve the lives of our patients. I have always felt blessed to have had the opportunity to have known and work with Bill, and I’m proud to work with all my partners. We have a wonderful staff; I frequently receive compliments about them from my patients.
I once won an award in medical school called the William Osler Award. Dr. Osler was a world famous doctor and one of the founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He was a great diagnostician, and could walk in a patient’s room and diagnose the patient just by observation. I received the award from my attending Professor and it seemed to aggravate him(a little) as an Internist(medical doctor) to present it to a future surgeon. I told him, “I’m just an internist that operates.”
