Paul C. Murphy, MD, AME, QME, IME

Paul C. Murphy, MD is an orthopaedic surgeon who has practiced in San Diego since 1988. He specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopic surgery. He completed his residency in San Diego in 1985, and was Board Certified in 1987 and recertified in 1996 and 2006. He obtained a CAQ (Certificate of Added Qualification) in Sports Medicine in 2012 from the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM). His career led him to serve in the United States Navy as an orthopedic surgeon in Naples where he was head of the Department of Orthopedics for two years. He was also mobilized to serve in Desert Storm in 1991.

In addition to sports medicine, Dr. Murphy cared for trauma patients regularly at Sharp Memorial Hospital. He became known as the Supercross doctor treating the legends of the sport including Jeremy McGrath, Mike LaRocco, Bubba Stewart, Ricky Carmichael, and many others.

Dr. Murphy became the head team doctor in 1998 for the San Diego Chargers. He continued his role as team doctor for the Chargers until 2002. He then became a head team physician for the University of San Diego, responsible for caring for all of the athletes who participate in Division I sports including men’s football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball.

Dr. Murphy is also the team physician for Cathedral Catholic High School and Saint Augustine High School. He donates his time to high school athletes and runs a free clinic on Saturday mornings in the fall of each year for high school athletes who have been injured in Friday night football games.

Dr. Murphy continues to treat sports medicine injuries, both surgically and nonoperatively, specializing in shoulder and knee injuries. He is one of the very few orthopedic surgeons in the San Diego County and Southern California areas who employs Sonorex treatments (Shock Wave Therapy, a form of lithotripsy) for chronic joint injuries and tendonitis rather than surgery. The most common form of tendonitis includes lateral epicondylitis at the elbow, patellar tendonitis at the knee, Achilles tendonitis at the ankle, and plantar fasciitis at the foot. All of these conditions can now be treated non-operatively with equal success compared to surgery.

Dr. Murphy has been a pioneer of in-office MRI use and outpatient surgery centers that are within his same building, allowing patients to be treated more seamlessly during acute and chronic phases of people’s injuries.