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DMD #50 | Dr. Chris Hills on Orthopedics, Service, and Building Resilience Beyond Medicine
Dr. Chris Hills has taken an unconventional path in medicine. From medical school in Arizona to an Army scholarship and deployments overseas, his career in orthopedics was forged on the battlefield and refined in fellowship at Duke. Now settled in Jackson, Wyoming, he combines spine surgery with a love of the outdoors.
Chris reflects on lessons from military medicine, the importance of balance in sustaining a career, and why professional detours often lead to the deepest growth. He also shares his family’s story of loss and how the Brody Hills Foundation—a program teaching mental resiliency through dirt biking and outdoor mentorship—was born.
This conversation blends medicine, service, personal resilience, and the power of thinking outside the box to reach young people where they are.
Highlights- Military track: Why Chris chose an Army scholarship, the reality of “all-expense-paid trips” to the Middle East, and how battlefield medicine shaped his skills.
- Training + growth: Returning to fellowship at Duke after years as a practicing Army surgeon, and why that experience sharpened his education.
- Work-life balance: Practicing in Jackson, WY, and making intentional choices to prioritize both family and recreation.
- Facing loss: How his son’s death by suicide led Chris and his family to channel grief into meaningful outreach.
- Wide Open: The Brody Hills Foundation: Using dirt bikes, outdoor adventure, and mentorship to give teenagers resilience, connection, and hope.
- Service shapes skill. Military medicine offers unparalleled training and perspective—preparing physicians for both clinical and leadership roles.
- Balance prevents burnout. Sustaining decades in medicine requires drawing boundaries, honoring family, and enjoying the place you live.
- Resilience is teachable. Youth can thrive when given mentors, meaningful outlets, and community—sometimes found in unexpected places, like dirt bikes.
Learn more about the Brody Hills Foundation and its mission to build resilience in youth through outdoor adventure.
🌐 Website: brodyhillsfoundation.org
🔎 Social Media: Search “Wide Open – Brody Hills Foundation”
- Brody Hills Foundation – programs, clinics, and mentorship opportunities.
- Veteran-to-Veteran partnerships and training for mentors.
Chris Hills, MD is an orthopedic spine surgeon based in Jackson, Wyoming. After earning his MD in Arizona, he trained in orthopedics through the U.S. Army and completed fellowship at Duke University. He served nine years active duty, including deployment to Afghanistan. Today, he balances surgical practice with leading the Brody Hills Foundation, dedicated to mental health resilience in youth through motorsports and outdoor activities.
About the Host:Dr. Peter Crane is a board-certified physician, educator, and storyteller with a heart for service and a calling to spotlight doctors who make a difference—in their communities, in medicine, and in the lives they touch.
Through Doctors Making a Difference, he brings you into intimate conversations with physicians who have overcome challenges, redefined success, and found purpose in and beyond the clinic. His goal is simple: to help more doctors stay in medicine by showing them what's possible.
About the Show:Doctors Making a Difference is more than a podcast—it’s a movement to highlight the good, the gritty, and the deeply human side of medicine.
In every episode, Dr. Peter Crane interviews physicians whose stories defy the script. From burnout recovery to bold career pivots, health challenges to quiet leadership, this show honors the truth that healing begins with connection—and doctors, too, deserve to be whole.
Visit: doctorsmakingadifference.com
LMC Series Note:Living with Metastatic Cancer (LMC) explores the science, decisions, and day-to-day realities of life with advanced disease—through candid physician–patient conversations.
The Doctors Making a Difference Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for medical, legal, or professional advice. Always consult appropriate experts regarding your unique circumstances.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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By Peter M. Crane, MDDr. Chris Hills has taken an unconventional path in medicine. From medical school in Arizona to an Army scholarship and deployments overseas, his career in orthopedics was forged on the battlefield and refined in fellowship at Duke. Now settled in Jackson, Wyoming, he combines spine surgery with a love of the outdoors.
Chris reflects on lessons from military medicine, the importance of balance in sustaining a career, and why professional detours often lead to the deepest growth. He also shares his family’s story of loss and how the Brody Hills Foundation—a program teaching mental resiliency through dirt biking and outdoor mentorship—was born.
This conversation blends medicine, service, personal resilience, and the power of thinking outside the box to reach young people where they are.
Highlights- Military track: Why Chris chose an Army scholarship, the reality of “all-expense-paid trips” to the Middle East, and how battlefield medicine shaped his skills.
- Training + growth: Returning to fellowship at Duke after years as a practicing Army surgeon, and why that experience sharpened his education.
- Work-life balance: Practicing in Jackson, WY, and making intentional choices to prioritize both family and recreation.
- Facing loss: How his son’s death by suicide led Chris and his family to channel grief into meaningful outreach.
- Wide Open: The Brody Hills Foundation: Using dirt bikes, outdoor adventure, and mentorship to give teenagers resilience, connection, and hope.
- Service shapes skill. Military medicine offers unparalleled training and perspective—preparing physicians for both clinical and leadership roles.
- Balance prevents burnout. Sustaining decades in medicine requires drawing boundaries, honoring family, and enjoying the place you live.
- Resilience is teachable. Youth can thrive when given mentors, meaningful outlets, and community—sometimes found in unexpected places, like dirt bikes.
Learn more about the Brody Hills Foundation and its mission to build resilience in youth through outdoor adventure.
🌐 Website: brodyhillsfoundation.org
🔎 Social Media: Search “Wide Open – Brody Hills Foundation”
- Brody Hills Foundation – programs, clinics, and mentorship opportunities.
- Veteran-to-Veteran partnerships and training for mentors.
Chris Hills, MD is an orthopedic spine surgeon based in Jackson, Wyoming. After earning his MD in Arizona, he trained in orthopedics through the U.S. Army and completed fellowship at Duke University. He served nine years active duty, including deployment to Afghanistan. Today, he balances surgical practice with leading the Brody Hills Foundation, dedicated to mental health resilience in youth through motorsports and outdoor activities.
About the Host:Dr. Peter Crane is a board-certified physician, educator, and storyteller with a heart for service and a calling to spotlight doctors who make a difference—in their communities, in medicine, and in the lives they touch.
Through Doctors Making a Difference, he brings you into intimate conversations with physicians who have overcome challenges, redefined success, and found purpose in and beyond the clinic. His goal is simple: to help more doctors stay in medicine by showing them what's possible.
About the Show:Doctors Making a Difference is more than a podcast—it’s a movement to highlight the good, the gritty, and the deeply human side of medicine.
In every episode, Dr. Peter Crane interviews physicians whose stories defy the script. From burnout recovery to bold career pivots, health challenges to quiet leadership, this show honors the truth that healing begins with connection—and doctors, too, deserve to be whole.
Visit: doctorsmakingadifference.com
LMC Series Note:Living with Metastatic Cancer (LMC) explores the science, decisions, and day-to-day realities of life with advanced disease—through candid physician–patient conversations.
The Doctors Making a Difference Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not substitute for medical, legal, or professional advice. Always consult appropriate experts regarding your unique circumstances.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.