Brothers Chris Varacallo, DO, and Matt Varacallo, MD, aim to carry on their late father's legacy while practicing at Penn Highlands Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in DuBois, Pa., The Courier Express reports.
Dr. Chris Varacallo, a nonsurgical primary care sports medicine specialist, has been practicing in DuBois since June 2015, though he was originally with University Orthopedics. Dr. Matt Varacallo, who practices operative orthopedic medicine, joined Penn Highlands in August 2019.
The two grew up and went to school in DuBois, but they traveled elsewhere for medical school, residency and fellowship training.
Their late father, Albert Varacallo, MD, was a well-known family practice physician from DuBois. He died in a bicycle accident in 2010, when Chris was in his third year of medical school and Matt was preparing for his second year of medical school.
The brothers' return to DuBois brought advanced treatments to the area, such as nerve blocks and a specific anterior cruciate ligament surgery. Their mother, as well as three of their four other siblings, remains in DuBois.
Dr. Chris Varacallo said he still sees patients who were treated by his dad, which helps keep his memory alive.
"My father really held himself to such a high standard, not only in establishing a relationship and going above and beyond the clinical aspect of it," Dr. Matt Varacallo said in an interview with The Courier Express. "He was personable with [patients], too. … That's something I go out of my way to do."