- Daniel Ivankovich
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Dr. Dan Ivankovich 
Daniel "D-Rock" IvankovichBorn Zagreb, Croatia Residence Chicago, Illinois Other names ReverendDoctorD Education Northwestern University Medical School, (HPME) Honors Program - MD Occupation Orthopedic Surgeon/Musician Organization The Bone Squad Known for Improving Patient's Lives
Blistering Lead Guitarist for Chicago Blues AllstarsNotable works Operation Spinal Cord Rescue Haiti Earthquake Relief Website The Bone Squad [1] Daniel Anthony Ivankovich MD is an orthopedic surgeon and blues musician/producer from Chicago, Illinois, who specializes in traumatology, joint replacement and spinal disorders. He is known for his humanitarian efforts on behalf of the under-served in Chicago's inner city via The Bone Squad and is medical director of OnePatient-Global Health Initiative, based out of Chicago, Illinois.
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Early history
Born in Zagreb, Croatia, on November 23, 1963, he has lived in Chicago since the age of three.
Achieving All-State and All-American honors as an Illinois prep basketball player, Ivankovich was a highly recruited player. With over 500 scholarship offers, he decided to play for Northwestern University while working towards his BSM/MD in the Honors Program In Medical Education. Unfortunately, a knee injury curtailed his sports career.
Ivankovich studied medicine at Northwestern University, where he received his degree in 1995. He completed his Orthopedic Residency Training at Rush University Medical Center and is fellowship-trained in Adult Joint Reconstruction (Rush University Medical Center), Reconstructive Spine and Traumatology (Northwestern Memorial Hospital) and Spinal Cord Injury (Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago).
Family
Daniel's father, Anthony D. Ivankovich MD, an internationally recognized pioneer in cardiac anesthesiology, is Chairman Emeritus of the Department or Anesthesia at RUSH University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois; while his mother, Olga Ivankovich MD, specializes in Primary Care Medicine and directs the RUSH University Pain Clinic.
Medical work
Dr. Dan Ivankovich, tending to a young Haitian boy's tibia fracture in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.
In 2000, Ivankovich established The Chicago Musculoskeletal Initiative (ChiMSI) in 2000 in an effort to improve access to health care in many medically under-served communities and hospitals in the Chicago area. Since then, ChiMSI has grown from a one surgeon, fifteen-patient initiative into a multi-disciplinary group of orthopedic surgeons, podiatrists, physiatrists, internists and pain medicine specialists, providing routine and emergency care to a broad range of patients and communities. ChiMSI served over 7,000 patients in 2005, expanding to 15,000 patients/clinic visits and over 800 surgical cases in 2009.
After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Ivankovich and his team airlifted thousands of tons of medical supplies to Port-au-Prince. He collaborated with Team Rubicon USA to set up mobile Forward-Assist Surgical Teams (F.A.S.T.) to manage hundreds of Haitians with severe injuries. While rounding through the multiple tent-city medical camps, he and colleagues from Handicap International discovered nearly fifty patients with severe spinal cord injuries.
Ivankovich came upon two such patients, Bazelais Suy and Josette Delisca, who managed to survive despite life-threatening injuries.[1] Ivankovich personally escorted them to Chicago with the assistance of AirMed International[2] and MedEvac, where they received care at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.[3]
In 2010, Dr. Ivankovich organized a team of health providers from Chicago to join him in his mission and features their biographies at his website, The Bone Squad [2]. He also blogs in the voice of his alter ego, the Reverend Doctor D, focusing on health & social challenges and chronicling his work in Haiti.
He was featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric in a segment called "The American Spirit".[4] He travels from hospital to hospital in various configurations of the "Bone Mobile", (1) brilliant-black 2007 Dodge Magnum SRT8 street-rod, (2) black crystal-pearl 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, and (3) brilliant-black 2004 Dodge RAM SRT10 race pick-up. Dr. Ivankovich has worked closely with Dodge Racing/Mopar Performance, in the development of each of the street-legal, SRT race vehicles, which dyno-test at over 600 horsepower.
After his appearance on the CBS Evening News, Ivankovich was contacted by "Massive" Mike Williams, former power forward for the Atlanta Hawks. Williams remembered Ivankovich from their high school years in Chicago, when both were All-State & All-American basketball players. On November 29, 2009, Williams was shot and paralyzed while working at an Atlanta nightclub.[5] Currently, Ivankovich and Williams have teamed up with Berkeley Bionics to fit Williams with eLegs, electronic prostheses. The story was featured on the Today Show's American Story segment on 02/21/2011.[6]
Musical career
Reverend Doctor D (Daniel Ivankovich) in Chicago.Daniel Ivankovich is a founding member, vocalist and guitarist for the Chicago Blues All-Stars. As ReverendDoctorD, he has played alongside such Chicago blues legends as Eddie Taylor, Homesick James, Hubert Sumlin, James Cotton, Magic Slim, Junior Wells, and Bo Diddley, to name a few, including a stint as bandleader for bluesman, Otis Rush.
Ivankovich has been a producer and on-air talent at WNUR-FM (Evanston, Illinois), WCKG-FM (Chicago, Illinois) and produced the Hot 97 Morning Show with Howard Hoffman and Stephanie Miller on WQHT-FM (New York) and MJI Broadcasting (New York). He also hosted "Out Of The Blue", a Chicago blues radio program that was syndicated throughout the Midwest and Southeast United States via KOST Broadcasting (Chicago, Illinois).
An article in American Blues Scene magazine, April 2011, describes his work combining music with his humanitarian endeavors.[7]
References
- ^ Chicago Tribune, January 28, 2010
- ^ AirMed Participates in Haiti Relief Transport
- ^ WLS Chicago News, January 28, 2010
- ^ Appearance on CBS news
- ^ Ex-NBA Player Relearns to Walk with Help from Friend, Chicago Tribune
- ^ http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41640589/ns/today-today_people/
- ^ Big Bluesman, Bigger Heart
External links
Categories:- People from Chicago, Illinois
- American people of Croatian descent
- Orthopedic surgeons
- Living people
- 1963 births
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