Dr. Chuck Thigpen
Dr. Thigpen is Senior Vice President for Clinical Excellence for ATI Physical Therapy leading the clinical services and quality improvement across the ATI platform to prevent and treat of musculoskeletal disorders. Dr. Thigpen holds adjunct appointments with Duke University Department of Orthopaedics, Division of Physical Therapy, University of South Carolina Department of Physical Therapy, and Clemson University Bioengineering. Chuck completed his PhD in Human Movement Science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 2006. He completed a M.S. in Human Movement Science with a concentration in Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy from UNC in May of 2003. He earned his B.S. in Physical Therapy from East Tennessee State University in 1997. Chuck played football at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga in 1991-92 before becoming a student athletic trainer through 1995.
Today he leads the clinical services and care innovation aimed to deliver predictable outcomes while bending the cost curve for patients with MSK related pain. He leads the clinical quality improvement and benchmarking for ATI’s Patient Outcomes Registry, the largest in physical therapy with over 3.3 million individual patient episodes. He has been funded by the MIT research endeavor (MITRE) and Foundation for Physical Therapy for health innovation in development of clinical pathways for orthopaedic related pain. He has over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers published in leading scientific journals including Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American Journal of Sports Medicine, Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, Journal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy, and British Journal of Sports Medicine and his work has been cited more than 1000 times.
Thigpen is a NATABOC certified athletic trainer and a member of the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, American Academy of Orthopaedics and Sports Physical Therapy, American Shoulder and Elbow Society, American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, and The ICCUS Society for Sports Rehabilitation. He served as the research chair for the American Academy of Sports Physical Therapy from 2012-2018 and as President of the American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Therapists from 2010-12. Dr. Thigpen received the 2008 Founders award for service to the American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Therapists. In 2012, he was awarded the APTA Academy of Sports PT “Lynn Wallace Award for Clinical Education and Mentoring” in recognition of his contributions to sports physical therapy in the areas of teaching and mentoring and in 2022 the “Clinical Excellence Award” for career contributions to sports PT research. In 2015, Thigpen was inducted as an inaugural member of the East Tennessee State University’s College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences Alumni Hall of Fame.
Charles Thigpen can be reached at charles.thigpen@atipt.com, or 864-454-0904.