Tyler C. McDonald, M.D., FAAOS

Tyler C. McDonald, M.D., FAAOS, is fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedic and spine surgeon with a passion for taking care of children. He is an assistant professor in the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of South Alabama, Chief of Pediatric Orthopaedics, and Medical Director for Children's Surgery at USA Health.

Dr. McDonald treats children of all ages and treats orthopedic conditions from head to foot. He has a special research interest in pediatric spinal deformity and is a member of both the Scoliosis Research Society and the Pediatric Spine Study Group. For the spine, he treats a wide range of conditions including scoliosis, kyphosis, spondylolisthesis, and torticollis. He is trained in both operative and non-operative techniques. These include Mehta casting for early-onset scoliosis, growing-rod surgery for early-onset scoliosis, bracing for juvenile and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (JIS and AIS), and posterior spinal fusion. He is also trained in anterior vertebral body tethering.

He received an undergraduate degree in computational biochemistry from the University of Texas in Austin, TX, where he was the captain of the men’s rowing team. He then attended UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas for medical school, where he served as president of his class and discovered his love of orthopedics. In his orthopedic surgery residency training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi, he met his wife and realized he had a passion for taking care of pediatric patients. He ultimately decided to dedicate his career to the care of orthopedic and spine conditions in children and pursued a fellowship in pediatric orthopedic and scoliosis surgery at the renowned Nemours/A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware before joining USA Health in 2021.

He was named in Mobile Bay Magazine's 40 under 40 in 2024, has published numerous scientific papers in the field of pediatric orthopaedics, presented research at national and international conferences, and is a host of the Peds Ortho Podcast, the official podcast of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America.