From student to surgeon

Local boy makes good is a line that never gets old. And for 2005 graduate of Wimberley High School Ray Skunda, he had just a little regret. He missed winning the State Football Championship by just one year.

But achieving in the classroom was much more important. “I always wanted to be a doctor. When I got to high school, I thought that would be cool,” Dr. Ray Skunda, M.D. said. Skunda, has recently started practicing orthopedic surgery at the Center for Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine in San Antonio.

Playing sports in high school had an effect on entering the orthopedic field. He feels that he was very well prepared for college at WHS. Being on the UIL Science Team under Dr. Ron Richards also prepared him in his field. He graduated magna cum laude from Trinity University in San Antonio with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry,

“Medical school was easier than college. Trinity is very demanding in teaching young people. Trinity was harder than the tests to get in Medical school,” Skunda said.

“As for getting into medical school I always thought I’d get in somewhere,” confident in his schooling and training. Orthopedics was a different story.

“Orthopedics was more competitive. It’s probably in the top five (specializations) with plastic surgery and dermatology.”

He attended University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio where he received his medical degree with distinction in research. Then it was on to being a resident doctor. “As a resident there’s no studying or tests. Many times it was over 80 hours a week but you are not on your time, you are always a resident.”

He was a resident at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

His sense of humor about his profession was spot on when he joked about orthopedics. “It’s orthopedics. It’s not an emergency and people really don’t die from it.” When it comes to bodily function in medicine he experienced a lot in working at the trauma center at Oklahoma. “I didn’t pass out when someone had their brains hanging out. I can do a little blood and bones, but guts and poop are another story.”

He graduated in August, and he has had to learn patience about clients and referrals, which will come from time. “It feels good though, to be out and have a job.”

On the personal front he is married to a Wimberley girl, Ashlee Thomason, which is his high school sweetheart. They have two children with another due in May. He’ll be coaching soccer this spring, and trying to get around in his community.

He is practice with two other doctors at the Center for Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine in San Antonio.

“A big part of my practice is shoulder, knee scopes and replacements, some sports repairs such as ACL repairs. About twenty percent is trauma, such as hip fractures, just about anything.”

The one part that he wasn’t ready for was the business side of medicine. “It’s a business. They don’t train you to bill and code. You have to learn the business side of being a doctor. All that stuff is a surprise.”

But he still remains a Wimberley Texan.

“All my teachers, I still remember them. I always enjoyed my classes. I was very well prepared and that is a testament to them. I enjoyed high school and still have many friends from then,” Dr. Ray Skunda, M.D. said.