Department of Orthopaedics

Dr. Trafton joined the Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital faculty in 1984. In 1990, he became one of the founding members of University Orthopedics, where he continued as an Orthopaedic Trauma surgeon until his retirement in 2005.  He treated his patients with kindness and the outstanding care for which he was known.  Dr. Trafton was passionate about orthopaedic education and served as director of the Brown University Trauma Fellowship.  Through Health Volunteers Overseas, he contributed to trauma care outside the USA and was recognized in 2015 by the organization with the tenth annual HVO Golden Apple Award recognizing an individual who has demonstrated a strong commitment to HVO’s mission to improve global health through the education, training, and professional development of the health workforce in resource-scarce countries.  Dr. Trafton joined HVO in 2005. He became the first project director for HVO’s program at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. The program helped develop Ghana’s second residency site for full qualification in trauma and orthopaedics. He visited Kumasi each year from 2011 to 2015, to work alongside faculty, residents, and medical students to promote training and education. 

 Dr. Trafton received a BA in Anthropology from Yale College and an MD  from Harvard Medical School, both Cum Laude. He trained in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California in San Francisco, where he served on the faculty for several years before moving to Brown and Rhode Island Hospital.