Lots of young people volunteer at hospitals, but few of them witness surgery.

Or even want to.

When Dr. Joy L. Long got that opportunity as a teen, however, she didn't hesitate. In fact, she was so amazed by the miracle of modern medicine, she decided then and there to be a surgeon.

"First I saw a gynecological procedure, and then a vascular procedure," Long said. "But what was really fascinating was the total knee replacement.

"I thought it was the most wonderful thing ever."

A 1994 Conestoga Valley High School alumna, Long recently completed her postgraduate work as a resident and fellow, and has joined Lancaster Orthopedic Group as its newest physician.

And in a year when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin have sought to break glass ceilings, Long has apparently shattered one of her own: She's believed to be the first female orthopedic surgeon in Lancaster County.

The 32-year-old Long, who began practicing here in late August, is looking to focus on female sports injuries, an area that's getting more attention as increasing numbers of girls and women participate in athletics.

Gender differences
While at Conestoga Valley, Long was involved with the athletic training club, working with team physician Dr. Bill Vollmer and then-head trainer Mark Francis.

"They were always encouraging," she said, and Vollmer even helped with her science fair projects.

After high school, she earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in biology and minoring in Spanish. While there, she took a work-study job as a student athletic trainer and got to travel with the men's lacrosse team.

Long graduated from Penn's Medical School in 2002, after which she began a five-year orthopedic surgery residency at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Long followed that with a yearlong fellowship in sports medicine and shoulder surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School.

While she treats patients of both genders, Long hopes to concentrate more on female sports injuries.

"The female athlete is often less appreciated, less understood," Long said.

But with more and more young girls taking part in sports, the medical profession "is starting to notice the differences" between male and female athletes, she said.

For example, girls in high school have a four times greater chance of tearing their anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, than do boys at that age, Long said.

But by the time you get to the professional level, she said, that gap pretty much disappears.

No one knows for sure why that's the case, Long said, but there are some possible explanations. It could have to do with changes in the female physique, she said, or perhaps the women who play professional sports are just better suited to withstand strain on the ACL.

While treatment for females with ACL injuries is generally the same as for males, Long said, a big key for girls and women in preventing noncontact ACL tears is the right training.

One study of NCAA athletes has shown a significant decrease in ACL injuries among female basketball and soccer players when they follow a prevention exercise program, Long said.

The training involves improving "core strength," she said, such as maintaining abdominal muscles. "It's about balance," Long said.

'A good fit'
When she secured her fellowship, Long began sending out letters to orthopedic practices, including several in her native Lancaster County.

She said she's glad to be home. "I felt like Lancaster Orthopedic Group would be a good fit for me."

Long is the daughter of Larry and Elaine Shirk, who live in Lancaster city, and the wife of David Long, a Cocalico High School graduate. Her younger sister, Jessica Shirk, is a certified athletic trainer at Conestoga Valley.

Most of Long's time is spent in Lancaster Orthopedic Group's Mount Joy office, which opened in October. "I think my strength is patient relationships, and I really love working with teens," she said.

While many more women now attend medical school, orthopedic surgery "is traditionally a men's field," Long said.

But that never stopped her. "I was a little bit oblivious to that," she said.

Long said she did encounter a sexist professor in med school, but she also had the strong support of her mentor there, Dr. Joe Bernstein. "He was always available to talk."

Dr. Mark Perezous of Lancaster Orthopedic Group said Long's focus on sports medicine fits in well with the practice, where many of the physicians have subspecialties.

As a woman in a male-dominated field, she also brings a new perspective, he said. "I think that's a great thing."

Her membership in the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society is a big help, Long said. The society was founded in 1983 as a support and networking group for the growing number of women orthopedic surgeons. "It's nice to have that kind of camaraderie," Long said.

According to the organization's Web site, membership began with 42 women and has grown to more than 400, most from the U.S. and Canada.

The society is named for Dr. Ruth Jackson, the first practicing female orthopedist in the U.S., who opened an office in Dallas in 1932.

While only about 10 percent of the country's orthopedic surgeons are women, Long said she expects that number to climb.

"I think it'll increase," she said. "Change is happening."

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Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.