A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Dr. W. Z. (Buz) Burkhead joined the W. B. Carrell Clinic in 1983. He earned his MD degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. He then completed a residency in Orthopedic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. This was followed by a fellowship in shoulder reconstructive surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio under Charles A. Rockwood, Jr., MD, one of the premier shoulder surgeons in the world. The author of scientific articles, book chapters, and textbooks on the rotator cuff and dislocating shoulder, Dr. Burkhead has lectured at national, as well as international conferences. He was selected 1991 Presidential Guest Lecturer of the Japanese Shoulder Society and was a 1997 Traveling Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Most recently Dr. Burkhead was elected and served as President of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons.