Dr. Rod French is a sports medicine hand and wrist surgeon in Vancouver, Canada. He trained in plastic surgery in Halifax, a hand and microsurgery fellowship at Harvard, and has a master’s degree in medical education. He received a Diploma of Sports Medicine from the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine (CASEM) later in his career in 2017.

 

Along with teaching at the University of British Columbia where he is an Assistant Professor, Rod is a faculty member for the International Wrist Arthroscopy Society where he teaches annually at the advanced wrist arthroscopy courses at the EU institute for minimally invasive surgery in Strasbourg, France.  He is co-author/assistant editor of the book chapters “Hand Injuries” and “Facial Fractures” in Brukner and Khan’s Clinical Sports Medicine, and the book chapter “ECU Injuries in Athletes” in Sports Injuries of the Hand and Wrist. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Wrist Surgery and he was CASEM exchange fellow to the AMSSM annual meeting in 2025.

 

Rod has been a consultant surgeon the NHL Players’ Association since 2004, and for the NHL/NHLP Combined Second Medical Opinion Program since its founding in 2013. He served 3 years with the NHL Department of Player Safety on the Injury Prevention and Protective Equipment Subcommitteelooking at ways to reduce the incidence of hand and wrist injuries in ice hockey.  He was the hand surgeon for the Calgary Flames for 10 years and continues as a consultant to multiple professional sports teams. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine.

 

Internationally he has been a team doctor for the Canadian Snowboard team at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a core medical doctor for the Canadian Olympic Team at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics and the 2023 PanAm Games in Santiago. He is currently the Chief Medical Officer for the Canadian Freestyle Ski team who he cared for at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina.