"I DID 15,000 SURGERIES — AND TOO MANY OF THEM WERE UNNECESSARY"
Surgeons are trained to heal. But what happens when the system they work in is designed to do the opposite?
In this episode of Rebels With a Root Cause, Dr. Josh Schacter — board-certified orthopedic surgeon and osteopath — and his wife Amber share the story behind one of the boldest exits in modern medicine. After 15 years and 15,000+ surgeries, Josh was burning out inside a hospital system that valued production over patients, quotas over care, and procedures over prevention. After being told to operate more, question less, and ignore the root causes driving his patients' pain, Josh and Amber walked away from the golden handcuffs and built Pinnacle Integrative Orthopedics from the ground up.
This conversation pulls back the curtain on the broken incentive structure of American healthcare, why up to 40% of orthopedic surgeries may be unnecessary, and how regenerative medicine is giving patients their lives back — without steroids, narcotics, or surgery. If you've ever been handed a diagnosis and told surgery is your only option, this episode will change everything.
In This Episode:
✅ Why Surgeons Are Incentivized to Operate — Not to Heal
✅ How the Insurance System Dictates Your Medical Care
✅ The Truth About Unnecessary Joint Replacements
✅ What Regenerative Medicine (PRP & Stem Cell) Can Actually Do
✅ Why Hormones, Gut Health & Lifestyle Are Key to Joint Recovery
✅ The Real Cost Comparison: Surgery vs. Integrative Care
✅ How to Exit the Traditional Medical System as a Physician
✅ Why Doctors Are Either Burned Out or About to Be
Timestamps:
(0:00) – Introduction: Dr. Josh & Amber Schachter, Integrative Orthopedics (
(0:38) – From 15,000 Surgeries to Burning Out in the System
(3:25) – How Hospital Quotas Are Destroying Patient Care
(7:47) – The Two Types of Doctors in the Traditional System
(13:13) – Insurance Dictates Care — And That's the Real Problem
(18:24) – Leaving the Golden Handcuffs: How They Built Pinnacle
(24:27) – Regenerative Medicine: Healing Joints Without Surgery
(27:49) – Up to 40% of Knee Replacements Are Unnecessary
(34:44) – The True Cost of Insurance vs. Integrative Care
(38:03) – The Patient Who Lost 100lbs & Got His Life Back
(40:15) – Where to Find Dr. Schacter & Pinnacle Integrative Orthopedics
Contact Info:
🌐 pinnaclesportsmedicine.com
📱 Instagram & Facebook: @pinnacleorthowf
🎥 YouTube & TikTok: Dr. Joshua Schachter
🏥 Board-Certified Orthopedic Surgeon, DO & Founder of Pinnacle Integrative Orthopedics
🎯 Specialties: Regenerative Medicine, PRP & Stem Cell Therapy, Joint Pain, Metabolic Health, Hormone Optimization, Integrative Orthopedics & Surgical Burnout Recovery