Early life Zirkle was born in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA on July 23, 1940. He was the second son born to Lewis Zirkle Sr. and Vivian Shaw Zirkle. Zirkle grew up in North Carolina where his father was employed by
General Electric. He attended
Newton-Conover High School in
Newton, North Carolina where he played football. As a teenager during the summers, Zirkle worked at a lumber mill stacking lumber, and later on wanted to become a
carpenter. Zirkle met his late wife Sara Kay Shilling while attending medical school. Sara was a year ahead of him and specialized in
pediatric care, with a
subspecialty in
developmental behavior. They married in 1963 and had three daughters and nine grandchildren. Sara died on June 19, 2022.
Education Zirkle initially considered a career as a professional carpenter but chose to pursue higher education instead. He attended Davidson College on a football scholarship, where he began taking pre-med classes. Zirkle was accepted to
Duke University Medical Center in
Durham, North Carolina, as a medical student. His military service included time treating military officials and civilian patients at the
93rd Evac Hospital in the
Republic of Vietnam between 1968-1969 and at
Fitzsimmons General Hospital in the United States between 1969-1970. Zirkle continued his orthopaedic
residency while in the service at
Letterman General Hospital between April 1970 to January 1971,
Shriner's Hospital for Crippled Children between January 1971 to January 1972, and
Fort Ord between January 1972 to April 1973. During his
annual leave at Fort Ord in 1972, Zirkle and his wife Sara participated in a volunteer effort with CARE MEDICO in Indonesia, a program established by
Dr. Tom Dooley. This initial volunteer experience inspired Zirkle to continue returning to
Indonesia for many years following his leave from the military to heal patients and train doctors and medical students.
Orthopedic career Between 1973 and 2015, Zirkle worked in private orthopaedic practice until he retired in 2008 to focus on SIGN Fracture Care. In 1976, he helped build The Northwest Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine practice, that has since become a division of Kadlec Clinic. Throughout his career, Zirkle used his vacation time to travel to low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where he established a rapport with the local physicians. During one of his visits to Indonesia, he found that the supplies being donated to the hospital were not suitable to aid in the fracture care that was needed. He then devised a plan to provide medical supplies and tools to orthopaedic surgeons in these LMICs, enabling them to treat fracture patients without relying on
traction.
Medical legacy Zirkle's contributions to orthopaedics in LMICs include creating medical instruments
, such as target arms and slot finders
, to replace the need for a
C-arm in an operating room
, as well as implants like intramedullary nails, plates, and screws for treating tibia, femur, and humerus fractures. His establishment of SIGN Fracture Care has facilitated the training and education of surgeons in LMICs on the SIGN Technique. Over the course of 25 years, Zirkle has trained over 5,000 surgeons and has helped to heal patients in more than 50 different LMICs. This initiative was developed to improve the healing process of fractured bones, aiming for optimal functional outcomes with minimal healing time and little to no financial burden on patients or their families.
SIGN Implants The SIGN Nail is an
intramedullary nail that is held in place by interlocking screws to stabilize a fractured bone and enable bone healing.
SIGN Technique The SIGN Technique involves using specifically designed intramedullary nails that can be inserted without the need for advanced medical imaging equipment. This technique helps provide effective and affordable fracture care where resources are limited. ==Published Works==