For 12 years Dr. Andrew Bishop worked as the head orthopedist for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons, working on some the most finely tuned human bodies ever seen, repairing the devastating injuries that all too often occur when a 250-lb. irresistible force meets a 300-lb. immovable object. Now, he's opening a small private practice in Middleburg.

Located at 107 West Federal Street, Suite 9, his offices are small but cozy, with his own desk, not that of a secretary or assistant, the first piece of furniture that greets you when you walk in the door. Off to one side is the main examining room, again not large but still plenty comfortable. Game balls, a Super Bowl ring from the Falcons 1999 run to the title game, and pictures of players from around the league adorn his office. Jamal Anderson, Herschel Walker and Randall Cunningham are just a few of the more immediately recognizable faces that peer down from the walls. A picture of his son playing Augusta National with Arnold Palmer nestles in amongst the NFL memorabilia.

Both Bishop's father and his grandfather were physicians. His father, Linton Bishop, Jr., was one of the country's first cardiologists, starting his medical service after the Second World War. So it comes as little surprise to learn that Bishop, after blowing out his knee during summer football practices before his freshman year at the University of Georgia, felt the call of the profession at a relatively young age.

"After rehabbing my knee, and taking some time to reassess my career path," Bishop says with a wry grin, "I transferred to Emory University and began focusing on medicine. Soon enough, I felt myself being pulled towards surgical practice."

After earning his B.S. and M.D. at Emory, Bishop served his internship in general surgery at the Medical College of Virginia from 1982-1984 then served his residency at the Emory University Affiliated Hospitals from 1984-1987. From 1987-1989 he was granted a fellowship in Knee Surgery and Sports Medicine, working with John Garrett, M.D., at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, where he was first exposed to the Falcons and the work of an orthopedist for a professional football team. He started his own practice shortly thereafter, reconnecting with the Falcons in 1992 and onward until 2004.

"I started thinking about opening a smaller practice a few years ago," says Bishop. "Working with the Falcons and the NFL was great experience, but what people don't realize is that it really isn't a full-time job. For 30 weekends a year, and consulting throughout that period, it's really more of a second job; I still had my own practice I was running. Then, around 2003, there started to be a real shift in the dynamics of the player-team-physician dynamic; rather than being hired by teams to be part of the medical staff, doctors and healthcare groups began paying the teams for the privilege and, quite frankly, the exposure of being the 'team ortho.' I worried that there was too much compromise there. It's a slippery slope when doctors start paying for what amounts to a marketing exercise."

Opening a small "country practice", getting back to old-fashioned doctoring, and being a real member of the community began to hold more and more appeal for Bishop. It didn't hurt when he married a local Middleburg resident and got to know the village and its environs a little bit better.

"Maybe it sounds cliché, but the best part of my job really is getting to know the people and helping them whenever I can. I'm really looking forward to this new stage in my career. I'll still travel back to Atlanta for a couple days every few weeks to work with some patients down there, and I might even do a little bit of consulting with Bubba Tyer of the Redskins during the season, but I'm excited about being a real local resource."

Bishop foresees working with a wide array of patients with a wide array of ailments, everything from riding mishaps to tennis elbow, from golf-induced wrist and shoulder injuries to twisted ankles. He's also enthusiastic about the chance to work with some of the area schools, helping out when they need someone of his abilities.

Now that Bishop has taken possession of a Portable Digital X-ray Unit, an Elkin, one of the most portable models available, and with surgery privileges at both Reston and Fairfax, he's ready to get to work, seeing patients at his office and making house-calls.

While his office hours will be Monday through Friday from 9-5, Bishop stresses that patients and potential patients should feel free to reach out to him. "If I'm not in the office, my personal cell phone number is on the answering machine. There's a good reason for that: I want to be available and I want people to feel free to contact me when they need my help."

While the closest orthopedist was all the way in Warrenton before Bishop's practice opened, Middleburg and the surrounding area now have a world-class resource literally in their backyard.