Dr. Matthew Dobbs didn’t plan to become a doctor. He tried business. He tried architecture. But 25 years ago, a chance meeting with a legendary orthopedic surgeon set him on a path that would transform how clubfoot is treated and how families access that care.
The partnership between specialized medical care and charitable organizations like Miracle Flights shows what happens when expertise meets accessibility. For families dealing with clubfoot, geography often determines whether a child walks normally or faces a lifetime of stigma and limited opportunity.
The Mentor Who Changed Everything
Medical careers often turn on single relationships. For Dr. Dobbs, that person was Dr. Ignacio Ponseti at the University of Iowa.
Ponseti had revolutionized clubfoot treatment. Before his method, children faced major surgery. After, they needed a minimally invasive casting procedure. The difference was profound for both outcomes and recovery.
Dr. Dobbs met Ponseti as a medical student. The connection was immediate. “It’s all who you meet,” he says. That meeting pulled him from general medicine into pediatric orthopedics, and specifically into clubfoot treatment.
Years later, as Ponseti prepared to retire, he turned to Dr. Dobbs with a direct request: carry this on. The answer was easy. The work ahead was not.
What Clubfoot Actually Is
Clubfoot affects 1 in 800 to 1,000 births worldwide. Parents often learn about it at the 20-week ultrasound, though the condition has been present since early development.
The foot turns inward. If left untreated, a child would walk on the top and outside of their foot. It’s rigid, not positional. You can’t stretch it out or wait for it to correct itself.
Dr. Dobbs ran a genetics lab early in his career. His team identified the first five genes associated with clubfoot. But that’s just the start. “There’s more that we don’t know than we know,” he explains.
The genetic research matters because it helps families understand this isn’t about something that happened during pregnancy. It’s not positional. It’s coded into development before birth.
Why Treatment Takes Years, Not Months
Here’s what families don’t expect: clubfoot is “the gift that keeps giving.”
The Ponseti method works. Casting corrects the deformity in most cases. But growing bodies change. Children need follow-up through their developmental years. Some need additional procedures to maintain correction.
This isn’t a single surgery with a recovery period. It’s a relationship with a specialist that can span a decade or more.
For families living hours from a pediatric orthopedic center, this creates an impossible choice. Get the best care and figure out how to travel repeatedly. Or settle for whatever’s available locally.
That’s where organizations like Miracle Flights step in.
The Geography Problem
Dr. Dobbs has been working with Miracle Flights throughout his career. A patient introduced him to the organization. That partnership became central to his practice.
“Without Miracle Flights, these families can’t do this,” he says. “They can’t travel to get the care they need.”
The numbers tell part of the story. But the individual cases tell more.
A 21-year-old in South America was working as a farm hand when Dr. Dobbs found him years ago on an outreach mission. The young man couldn’t pursue education. Couldn’t marry. Couldn’t advance socially. Not because of intelligence or drive, but because of a physical deformity that should have been corrected as a child.
Dr. Dobbs brought him back for treatment. Twenty years later, he’s a college graduate and successful businessman in Mexico City.
Remove the stigma. The world changes.
Building an International Center
The Paley Institute in West Palm Beach operates differently than most orthopedic practices.
Dr. Dror Paley, the founder, assembled specialists who lead their fields. It’s a think tank of entrepreneurial, high-powered orthopedic surgeons. They share space, ideas, and resources. Physical therapists work on-site. The approach is multidisciplinary from the start.
But what drew Dr. Dobbs wasn’t just the Florida location. The Paley Institute has offices in Warsaw, Poland. Abu Dhabi. Columbia. More locations are opening soon.
This matched something in Dr. Dobbs’ background. His father was an ophthalmologist who did international cataract work in underdeveloped areas. Young Matthew traveled with him and saw a different side of medicine. He saw what it meant to heal people who had no other access to care.
“It was in line with my DNA, no pun intended,” he says. “Traveling the globe and helping those in areas that have less access to care.”
The Paley Institute gave him the platform to build a clubfoot center that wasn’t just national. It was international.
What Donors Make Possible
Watson’s family represents something bigger than one success story.
Watson was born with bilateral clubfoot. Both feet. Dr. Dobbs saw him early and started treatment. The Ponseti method worked well. But Watson needed follow-up visits. He needed additional procedures to maintain correction as he grew.
His family couldn’t afford repeated flights to West Palm Beach. Without Miracle Flights, Watson wouldn’t have received the full course of treatment.
He recently became a milestone patient for the organization. His family didn’t know that was coming. Neither did Dr. Dobbs. But the milestone mattered because it represented something tangible.
Watson runs now. He plays like any other child. His life looks normal because access to specialized care was made possible by people who donated to cover flights.
That’s what donors fund. Not just medical procedures. Entire life trajectories.
The Reality of Long-Term Care
Clubfoot treatment doesn’t end with the first success. It requires commitment from families and ongoing access to specialists.
Dr. Dobbs jokes about the “gift that keeps giving,” but he’s also being honest about expectations. Parents need to know this isn’t one visit. It’s not even five visits.
Children grow. Corrections need maintenance. Some cases need minor procedures years after the initial treatment. The relationship with the specialist spans the child’s development.
For local families in West Palm Beach, this is inconvenient. For families in other states or countries, it’s impossible without support.
The partnership between specialized medical centers and charitable flight organizations isn’t just helpful. It’s the difference between treatment and no treatment for many families.
From Genetics Lab to Global Practice
Dr. Dobbs’ career shows how research and practice can connect.
He ran a genetics lab. He identified genes. He published papers. That work matters for understanding clubfoot at a molecular level.
But it also matters for how he talks with families. When parents ask why this happened, he can explain what science knows and what it doesn’t. When they worry about future children, he can discuss actual risk factors instead of myths.
The research background doesn’t separate him from clinical work. It deepens it.
His international practice does the same. Working in Poland, Abu Dhabi, and Columbia means seeing clubfoot across different populations. Different genetic backgrounds. Different environmental factors. Different healthcare systems.
That breadth of experience makes him better at treating the family who walks into his Florida office.
What Success Looks Like
Medical success isn’t just about corrected deformities. It’s about what happens next.
The young farm hand in South America had a corrected clubfoot. But he also got education. A career. A life that matched his intelligence and potential.
Watson has corrected feet. But he also runs and plays without thinking about it. He won’t remember being the patient who couldn’t walk normally. He’ll just live.
Those outcomes depend on two things: specialized expertise and access to that expertise.
Dr. Ponseti developed a method that changed clubfoot treatment worldwide. But the method only works if families can reach someone trained in it. If they can come back for follow-up. If they can pursue the full course of treatment.
That’s where partnerships matter more than individual skill.
Why This Model Works
The Paley Institute model combines specialists with international reach. That’s not common in orthopedics.
Most specialized practices serve a regional population. They might see patients from a few hours away. They might have one satellite office in a nearby city.
But treating clubfoot effectively means seeing patients from wherever they are. The condition doesn’t respect geography. Birth defects happen everywhere at the same rate.
A center that can see patients internationally needs infrastructure beyond medical equipment. It needs relationships with charitable organizations. It needs staff who can coordinate complex travel. It needs systems for long-term follow-up across time zones.
Dr. Dobbs built that at the Paley Institute. He didn’t just join a practice. He created a clubfoot center designed for international reach.
The Human Element
Medical papers describe the Ponseti method with precision. Casting protocols. Correction angles. Surgical techniques for resistant cases.
But sitting in an exam room with a family who just learned their child has clubfoot requires something different.
Dr. Dobbs saw this with his own father’s work. International cataract surgery wasn’t just about removing clouded lenses. It was about restoring sight to people who had lost hope of ever seeing again.
That human element runs through clubfoot treatment too. Parents don’t just want corrected feet. They want their child to have a normal life. They want to erase worry about stigma, limited opportunity, and physical pain.
“Remove the stigma and the world changes,” Dr. Dobbs says. It’s a simple statement. It’s also the entire point.
What Comes Next
The Paley Institute is expanding. New locations mean more families can access specialized care without traveling to Florida.
But expansion doesn’t eliminate the need for charitable flight support. It just changes which families need it.
Some will travel to Poland instead of West Palm Beach. Some will go to Abu Dhabi. Some will still need to come to Florida because that’s where Dr. Dobbs practices most often.
The partnership with Miracle Flights continues to matter because geography continues to matter.
Dr. Dobbs has treated clubfoot for his entire career. He’ll likely treat it for years to come. The cases will change. The countries will change. But the fundamental challenge stays the same.
Expertise exists. Access to expertise does not exist equally. Charitable organizations bridge that gap.
Key Takeaways
- Clubfoot affects 1 in 800 to 1,000 births worldwide and requires specialized long-term treatment through childhood.
- The Ponseti method transformed treatment from major surgery to minimally invasive casting, but families need ongoing access to trained specialists.
- Geographic barriers prevent treatment for many families, making partnerships with charitable flight organizations critical.
- Treatment spans years, not months, requiring multiple visits and sometimes additional procedures as children grow.
- International medical centers with charitable partnerships create access for families who otherwise couldn’t receive specialized care.
- Dr. Dobbs identified the first five genes associated with clubfoot, though much remains unknown about genetic causes.
- Success means more than corrected feet – it means removing stigma and enabling normal life opportunities for affected children.
FAQ Section:
What is clubfoot and how common is it? Clubfoot is a birth defect where the foot is turned inward and rigid. It affects 1 in 800 to 1,000 births worldwide. Parents often learn about it during the 20-week prenatal ultrasound. The condition is not positional and has genetic causes, though much about those causes remains unknown.
How does the Ponseti method work? The Ponseti method uses minimally invasive casting to correct clubfoot instead of major surgery. Dr. Ignacio Ponseti developed this approach, which transformed treatment for children and families. The method requires ongoing follow-up through childhood as the child grows.
Why does clubfoot treatment take so long? Clubfoot treatment spans years because growing bodies change. After initial correction with casting, children need follow-up visits through their developmental years. Some cases require additional procedures to maintain correction as the child grows. It’s a long-term relationship with a specialist, not a one-time fix.
How does Miracle Flights help families access treatment? Miracle Flights covers travel costs for families who need specialized medical care but can’t afford repeated trips. For clubfoot treatment, families often need multiple visits over years. Without flight assistance, many families cannot pursue the full course of treatment their child needs.
Can clubfoot be detected before birth? Yes, clubfoot can be detected during prenatal ultrasound visits, typically around 20 weeks. This early detection allows families to prepare and connect with specialists before birth, though treatment doesn’t begin until after the baby is born.
What happens if clubfoot goes untreated? Untreated clubfoot means a child would walk on the top and outside of their foot. Beyond physical difficulty, untreated clubfoot creates social stigma. Dr. Dobbs treated a 21-year-old in South America who couldn’t pursue education or marriage due to untreated clubfoot. After treatment, he became a college graduate and businessman.
Where does Dr. Dobbs practice? Dr. Dobbs practices at the Paley Institute in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Institute also has international locations in Warsaw, Poland, Abu Dhabi, and Columbia, with more locations opening soon. This international footprint helps families access specialized care closer to home.
What makes the Paley Institute different? The Paley Institute brings together orthopedic specialists who lead their fields. It operates as a think tank with multidisciplinary care, including on-site physical therapy. The international footprint allows the center to serve families worldwide, not just regionally.
How did Dr. Dobbs start working with Miracle Flights? A patient introduced Dr. Dobbs to Miracle Flights early in his career. The partnership has continued throughout his 25 years of practice. He calls it “life-changing” for patients, families, and his practice because it makes long-term specialized care accessible.
What research has been done on clubfoot causes? Dr. Dobbs ran a genetics lab and identified the first five genes associated with clubfoot. This research helps families understand that clubfoot has genetic causes, not environmental or positional ones. However, much remains unknown about the complete genetic picture of clubfoot.
