Dr. Eric McCarty is a nationally and internationally recognized sports medicine trained orthopedic surgeon and shoulder specialist. He serves as the Chief of Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery and is a Professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. His passion for treating the active individual stems from his experience at the University of Colorado where he excelled and received numerous honors for his exploits in the classroom as well as on the football field where he was a first-team all-conference linebacker in the prominent Big-Eight Conference and he was also an Academic All-American.

Dr. McCarty attended medical school at the University of Colorado. After graduation he completed his training in orthopaedic surgery at Vanderbilt University and fellowship training in sports medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He subsequently returned to Vanderbilt as a faculty member in the department of orthopedics. In 2003, Dr. McCarty was recruited back to Colorado to take over the sports medicine and shoulder program at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and to serve as the head team physician for the University of Colorado athletics, a role he still holds, and for the University of Denver athletics. He also is the past medical director for the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club.

His specialized practice involves the care of these collegiate and professional athletes as well as recreational and highly competitive athletes from the community and the rocky mountain area. In addition to his busy clinical practice, Dr. McCarty is very active in research, teaching, and writing in the field of sports medicine and knee and shoulder surgery. He has over 350 publications in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery. He has been the recipient of numerous national research awards including several from AOSSM, the ASES Neer Award and the prestigious AAOS Kappa Delta Award in 2012, 2019 and 2024. He is also very active in national and international sports medicine and arthroscopic societies including AOSSM, ISAKOS, AANA and ASES with various positions of leadership in those societies, including the role of President of AOSSM 2025-2026.

Since his playing days, Dr. McCarty continues to maintain a very active lifestyle with his family enjoying the activities he grew up with in Colorado including hiking, cycling and skiing. This carries over into his unbridled dedication of returning his patients to their desired activity/sport. His passion for his work as a team physician, surgeon, educator and researcher is quite evident in his enthusiasm for what he does