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ACEL CAMFIELD, PA-C
Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center
When Acel Camfield was 19, he broke four metatarsal bones in his left foot in a motocross accident, leading to an open reduction and internal fixation surgery.
Years later, when Camfield returned to the same orthopedics practice to shadow a Physician Assistant (PA) there, he immediately knew he’d found a fulfilling and challenging career.
“I really enjoy figuring out what is causing problems for my patients and developing a treatment plan to get them back to where they need to be,” says Camfield, a PA at Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics Center (SMOC) since 2020. “In most cases, we can greatly improve people’s functionality and quality of life, especially if they’re willing to put in the necessary work.”
A specialist in upper and lower extremity injuries and joint damage, Camfield works with Geoffrey Wright, MD, a fellowship-trained Orthopaedic Surgeon and Joint Replacement Specialist, in SMOC’s Chesapeake office.
Camfield’s responsibilities include patient evaluations and diagnoses, medication management and in-office procedures such as casting, bracing, intra-articular injections and joint aspiration.
Later this year, Camfield will also begin performing ultrasound-guided injections, an advanced technique that helps visualize a joint and surrounding tissue structures for even more precise needle placement.
“I tell all of my patients that I always have their best interests at heart,” he notes. “I’ll do whatever I can to help them, and if I’m not the appropriate person to address their concerns, I’ll get them in front of someone who is.”
Both Camfield’s love of sports and his winding path into medicine have helped him connect and communicate with patients of all backgrounds at SMOC, where he is known as a caring provider and a valuable team player.
The son of a registered nurse who encouraged him to consider a career in healthcare, Camfield grew up in tiny Windsor, Ill. – population approximately 1,200 – and played baseball, basketball and golf throughout high school.
After earning a degree in Kinesiology and Sports Studies at Eastern Illinois University, Camfield held jobs in education, farming, construction and sports manufacturing before following his mom’s advice and the lead of a friend who had studied to become a PA.
Camfield was fascinated by orthopaedics as soon as he observed his first procedures (a knee replacement and a patellar tendon reconstruction). Still, the flexibility of the PA path appealed to him in case he decided to switch specialties down the road, and he completed a Master of Science in Physician Assistant at Mary Baldwin University.
“I had assumed that you could only be a doctor or a nurse, probably because that’s what I saw in my small town,” he recalls. “The PA path was perfect for me, and orthopaedics is very rewarding because I get to watch patients make such tremendous progress.”
In addition to Orthopaedics, Camfield has done rotations in Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Behavioral Health, Women’s Health and Pediatrics at health centers in Virginia, Illinois and Florida. He also worked as an Emergency Room Technician in Illinois.
A member of the Virginia Academy of Physician Assistants and the American Academy of Physician Assistants, Camfield enjoys traveling, playing golf and spending time with his wife of eight years, a fellow Windsor native, and their two French bulldogs.
Moving forward, Camfield is eager to watch the evolution of injection therapies such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and viscosupplementation, designed to speed the healing of injured tissues and lubricate joints for improved mobility and reduced pain.
“I’m excited to see where it all goes,” he says. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to get patients back to the activities that bring them joy even more quickly.”
