Join us in congratulating Dr. Jared Jones on 30 years of practicing at Central Indiana Orthopedics and wishing him well in his upcoming retirement! Dr. Jones’ warm personality, passion for educating students and commitment to getting patients back to doing what they love is unmatched, and we will miss him dearly. Before he begins his well-deserved retirement, we asked Dr. Jones to recap the highlights of his career and how he came to join Central Indiana Orthopedics. What he had to say is a perfect reflection of the significant impact he’s had on his patients, our staff and the community over the past three decades.
Dr. Jones became interested in sports medicine when he was injured at 16 years old during football season. While being treated for his injury, he was encouraged to consider sports medicine as a career and was later given the opportunity to shadow his doctor during surgeries. “I’m blessed to have been given that opportunity as well as to have had so many mentors leading me into the field of sports medicine,” Dr. Jones said. “The sense of satisfaction I get from doing exactly what I wanted to do as a child is hard to describe. I see so many people settle for a job just for income, but the ability to do what you’re passionate about for a career is truly a blessing.”
Growing up in Indianapolis, Dr. Jones went to Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School and later attended Manchester University for college. He earned his doctor of medicine from IU School of Medicine and completed residency training in orthopedics at IU Ball Memorial Hospital, as well as completing fellowships in two areas – internal medicine and sports medicine. During residency, he began working in the Walk-In Clinic at CIO Muncie (previously called Orthopedic Associates of Muncie) for extra income. That experience opened the door for him to join CIO and move to Anderson in 1994 where he’s remained ever since. “After my fellowship, CIO offered me the opportunity to open a Walk-In Clinic at the Anderson location,” Dr. Jones said. “Making the choice to join CIO was an easy decision. I had never been exposed to a group of surgeons who were not only highly skilled in the profession, but were also some of the nicest people I’d ever worked with.”
Dr. Jones working at the Anderson office when it was on Scatterfield Road
As a life-long sports enthusiast (and former athlete), Dr. Jones says this has been the perfect field for him, as he can merge his understanding of medicine and experience as an athlete to help others achieve their goals. And while some people may not enjoy the unexpected nature of the Walk-In Clinic, Dr. Jones says he enjoys the variation from day to day. “It’s impossible to get bored because every day is a different adventure,” Dr. Jones said. ”What I enjoy most about the Walk-In Clinic is the ability to help people quickly to overcome their acute injuries.”
Dr. Jones said there are so many memories that flood his mind from the last 30 years. His first real experience as a sports medicine physician was traveling to Hawaii with the Ball State basketball team for the Big Island Shootout. “They actually won the championship, and we were able to take the team to the beach and snorkeling,” Dr. Jones said. “Some of them had never seen the ocean, so the excitement on their faces is something I’ll never forget.”
He’s also reminisced about the opportunity he was given to cover the Olympic trials in swimming, as well as work with state championship teams at Alexandria, Frankton and Lapel and several Hall of Fame coaches over the years in Madison County. He’s been very active in boxing as a ringside physician and was able to cover a world championship event for HBO, as well as being named Indiana State Golden Gloves Ringside Physician of the Year.
Dr. Jones checks out a boxer during the match at Indiana Black Expo. Every fighter must be cleared to fight before taking the ring.
A characteristic we love most about Dr. Jones is his desire to serve others in the community. Dr. Jones said his main focus of community involvement has been helping children. Early in his career, he was on the board of the Wilson Boys and Girls Club and helped coach in youth basketball, and has continued to be involved with AAU and Ike Jackson league basketball teams over the years. He’s worked with the Minority Health Coalition of Madison County and is currently on the merit board for the Madison County Sheriff’s department.
Check out that Madison County Sheriff badge! 😊
Another area of community involvement that’s been a big part of his career is serving as a team physician or adjunct professor at various universities. For the first 11 years of his practice, Dr. Jones was involved with Indiana Wesleyan University as their team physician and adjunct professor. “This is where I began my journey to educate college athletic training students,” Dr. Jones said. “Last year, I was named by the Indiana Athletic Trainers Association as sports medicine physician of the year, and there’s also an award in my name at Indiana Wesleyan University for services to the school.”
Dr. Jones honored as ISMA Physician of the Year
Eighteen years ago, Dr. Jones took the position of team physician, medical director and associate professor at Anderson University. He said it’s been highly rewarding to not only cover collegiate athletes and help them recover from injury and return to competition, but also to see so many of his former students come to work for CIO as well as embark on various endeavors around the world, covering collegiate and professional sporting events. “I think this is my greatest personal impact on the field of sports medicine,” Dr. Jones said.
Dr. Jones recognized for 18 years of service in the Athletic Training Education Program and his role as a Medical Director and Team Physician for Anderson University
While it’s impossible to capture all memories and highlights throughout his 30-year journey practicing medicine (the man has done A LOT! 😊), Dr. Jones says what he’s loved most about his career is working with people to help them remain active, whether it’s recreational or competitive athletes. In particular, he’s had so much enjoyment from educating young people in athletic training and subsequently watching them flourish in their careers.
His retirement plans include lots of travel and spending time on the lake fishing and making memories with his wife and their five grandchildren. But before he starts retirement, there’s several people he wanted to thank who’ve supported him throughout his career, most importantly, his wife, Brenda, who has tolerated his crazy schedule with office hours, training room visits, teaching in the evening, coaching youth teams and sports event coverage. She maintained the household and helped him raise three wonderful children.
Additionally, Dr. Jones said he’ll always be grateful to the physicians at CIO for their vision and developing a sports medicine fellowship, and allowing him to be the first fellow to train in their program. “Drs Tom Sevier, Jay Matchett, Alan Habansky and Keith Miller were intimately involved in my training,” Dr. Jones said. “One of my mentors was Dr. Frank Lloyd, and when I was considering job offers he advised me that there’s no greater compliment than being offered a position by those who train you. They had the opportunity to see my weaknesses as well as strengths up close and wanted me to be part of this great group of physicians.”
Here’s to an incredible career, Dr. Jones! Wishing you the very best in retirement and many happy days (and Notre Dame games!) ahead. And we hope to see you back in the office for the annual Halloween costume contest – it just won’t be the same without you…
