Meet the Expert: Doctor Bio Video Series
Introducing Nicholas Wills, M.D. a spine surgeon at Summit Orthopedics in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. His specialties include neck, back, cervical, thoracic and lumbar spinal disorders, and minimally invasive surgery.
Meet Nicholas Wills, M.D.
Dr. Wills’ approach: “I understand the concern of athletes to get back to their sport and working in combination with our therapists helps them there.”
Dr. Wills’ education: After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, Dr. Wills earned his medical degree and later completed his residency at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There he went on to participate in the fellowship program at Twin Cities Spine Center.
Summit Orthopedics offers comprehensive spine expertise
Our back specialists diagnose spine problems and design custom treatment plans built on a conservative, nonsurgical approach. Most patients find relief through treatments including guided injections, specialized physical therapy, biofeedback, exercise, activity modification, and medication. When conservative care does not relieve symptoms, our highly skilled surgeons offer proven, evidence-based surgical options. Together with you, we will determine the right course of action.
Start your journey to a healthy spine. Find your spine expert, request an appointment online, or call us at (651) 968–5201 to schedule a spine consultation.
Summit has convenient locations across the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, serving Minnesota and western Wisconsin. We have state-of-the-art centers for comprehensive orthopedic care in Eagan, MN, Plymouth, MN, Vadnais Heights, MN, and Woodbury, MN, as well as additional community clinics throughout the metro and southern Minnesota.
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Video Transcription
My name is Nick Wills. I’m one of the orthopedic spine surgeons here at Summit Orthopedics. The reason I joined Summit orthopedics was because I’m from St. Paul. I grew up in St. Paul. I went to school in St. Paul. I went away for college, but I’ve been here my whole life – medical school, residency, even my spine training was in the Twin Cities. My favorite activities to do are play golf, water-ski, and coach my kids’ basketball teams. I used to play basketball a long time ago, but that’s many lifetimes ago. I mean, I like coaching my kids because when I was a kid, I didn’t know what to do. And I had a couple coaches that were interested in me and were kind to me and were helpful, and it made a huge difference for me. And that’s really important for my job at work, because people are scared, because they don’t know what’s wrong with them. And if you can do something – sometimes it’s simple education – to teach them, this is what’s going on here. This is what your problem is. We know what it is. Because when you don’t know what’s wrong, it’s scary. When you do have a known problem, it’s still a problem, but it’s much less scary. I picked spine surgery because when I was a resident I thought it was the trickiest and the most complicated thing. You can’t make mistakes. You have to be very, very precise. And I like that about it. Patients that come see us with radicular pain, with nerve pain, are the most miserable people with respect to their pain that you can imagine. And very often, we can fix that, and they’re very appreciative of that, and it really can change their life.