Dr. Adrienne Koder tore her ACL when she was a teenager, fueling her desire to help people by becoming a pediatric orthopedic surgeon.
Originally from Buffalo, N.Y., Koder graduated from New York’s SUNY Geneseo College in psychology and pre-med in 2011. She attended medical school at the New York Institute of Technology and completed a five-year residency at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, followed by a one-year fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
In 2021, Koder’s husband got a job at Walmart corporate, and she became pediatric orthopedic surgeon and chief of orthopedic surgery at Arkansas Children’s Northwest in Springdale. On the hospital’s board, she’s operating room medical director and teaches UAMS medical students and residents.
Koder’s greatest achievement is “growing the program from a one-man show to a burgeoning program helping thousands of kids a year and helping the area have orthopedic care close to home so kids aren’t having to travel three hours to Little Rock.”
Crediting the growth to “a shared commitment to excellence, collaboration and growth,” Koder’s role has helped “remove barriers, streamline processes, and create the kind of environment where great people can do their best work.” She’s working to complete the hospital’s two new operating rooms and expand its reputation to lead the area in pediatric orthopedics.
Known for her innovation, she co-developed the Star Harness, a brace designed for infants with hip dysplasia.
Koder is concerned about the lack of access to care for children throughout Arkansas and “sees lots of kids who aren’t approved for braces, who don’t have coverage.”
Recently Koder traveled to Ecuador where she paid for and performed 15 pediatric surgeries in a week in a rural area that lacked care.