Dr. Robert MacDonell tore his ACL in a skateboarding injury while a pre-med student at the University of Georgia. A couple of years later, he tore his second ACL playing soccer. 

“I just wanted to go through that so I could have empathy,” Dr. MacDonell said jokingly. 

Now Dr. MacDonell is excited to use his past injuries to help improve the lives of his patients through compassionate orthopaedic treatment. 

“Fewer things bring me greater happiness than taking someone with a problem and getting them back to doing the things that they want to do,” he said. 

Dr. MacDonell joins the team of doctors at Medical Group of the Carolinas — Orthopaedic Surgery — North Grove as an orthopaedic surgeon with a fellowship in sports medicine, working directly with Wofford College and USC Upstate in addition to local high schools. 

Dr. MacDonell always knew he wanted to go into medicine. His father is a cardiologist and told him when he was young that if he loved school, he would love being a doctor. 

Since he loved school and science, he always knew the medical field would be a natural fit. It wasn’t until medical school in Georgia that he fell in love with orthopaedics and sports medicine. 

Now he can lean on his past experiences with sports injuries to help treat patients who are looking for the right solutions to improve their lives. 

“You’re using science, you’re using skills you’ve learned and you’re working hard to actually fix a problem,” Dr. MacDonell said. 

That’s what he loves about orthopaedic care – finding tangible solutions to improve and restore the patients’ lives. 

“You’re not seeing a problem and sending them out to get fixed, you’re seeing a problem and then deciding right there to fix it,” he said. 

At the end of the day, Dr. MacDonell has a heart for helping people get back to doing the things they love. 

Dr. MacDonell is excited to call the Upstate home and to be living closer to his parents and brother, Dr. Alexander MacDonell, an orthopaedic surgeon at Medical Group of the Carolinas – Orthopaedic & Spine Surgery – Pelham. 

When not in surgery, Dr. Robert MacDonell loves to play sports and he enjoys backpacking, camping and being outdoors.