Orthopedic surgeon Eric Gokcen lives his life by the Golden Rule – “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Dr. Gokcen, an experienced and sought-after Bucks County foot and ankle surgeon, recently completed his sixth medical mission to Kenya, Africa. The trips are part of a decades-long commitment that began in the 1990s, after he started in private practice, and continues to this day.
With a Temple University orthopedic resident in tow, Gokcen wasted no time rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. And there was lots to do during his eight weeks there, in January and February. “There was no typical day,” he says. “The focus was on education. They saved up complex foot and ankle surgeries for me, but I was training the Kenyan surgeons with these cases in addition to seeing patients in the clinics. I focused on teaching during clinical situations, as we do here in our training programs.”
Gokcen operated on both children and adults in what he describes as “resource-limited settings. I saw many complex cases that required creative treatment plans since the equipment available was nothing like what we have here,” he says. In addition to offering medical care, Gokcen typically brings supplies on his trips – much of which is not available, or in short supply, in Africa.
Gokcen’s roots run deep in the country. He lived in Kenya from 2006 to 2008, providing free care to disabled, impoverished children as a member of CURE International – a Christian nonprofit organization that provides free surgical and spiritual care to children living in poverty.
From 2008 to 2013, Gokcen resided in Ethiopia – where he was medical director and chief of orthopedics at a new CURE hospital there. He came back to the United States in 2013. Ten years later, in 2023, St. Mary Medical Center hired Gokcen into its orthopedics practice located within the hospital. He maintains a busy practice there, evaluating and treating all types of foot and ankle problems – including injuries; degenerative conditions like arthritis, bunions and tendinitis; and chronic deformities that patients were born with or acquired through injury.
The Kenyan surgeons and patients were grateful for his expert care in the operating room as well as the classroom. “They are always so grateful for my help and encouragement,” Gokcen says. “The Kenyan surgeons appreciate learning new techniques and trying to improve the care they provide their patients.”
His experiences and challenges in Africa continually remind Gokcen to not take anything for granted – especially the quality of and access to American health care. “First of all, we are blessed with the health care we have here – excellent doctors and nurses, and incredible hospitals,” he says. “And it’s all close to home. You don’t have to travel for days to get excellent medical care. With that in mind, I am hoping to do what I can for those less fortunate than us, so that they can get better care where they live.”
Gokcen plans to continue answering the call to share his knowledge and expertise with the African people. “I’m hoping to continue the annual trip to Kenya with the Temple orthopedic residents,” he says. “Other than that, time constraints at work keep me from doing more – the patients in Bucks County still want me, too.”
Visit trinityhealthma.org/provider to learn more about the orthopedic surgeon. To schedule an appointment, call the Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic Medical Group Orthopedics practice, located at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, at 267-364-9100.
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