A dancer since age 3, Las Vegas native Angelina Vera suffered a serious injury in high school that kept her sidelined for a time. The silver lining? It determined the direction of her life, which has helped heal performers across the valley in the years since.
“I had posterior ankle impingement … and when I went through my surgery, I didn’t feel like my orthopedic surgeon felt like dancers were athletes,” Vera says. “I wanted to change that mindset.”
As an orthopedic surgeon at the UMC Orthopedic & Spine Institute, Dr. Vera is doing that and much more. While caring for community members as an expert who specializes in sports medicine and dance injuries, she draws upon more than a decade of experience as a professional dancer, instructor and choreographer.
“As a former performing artist, I understand the importance of working alongside dancers and other athletes to address their injuries using the least-invasive and most-effective treatment options,” says Dr. Vera, who performed in Evening at La Cage at the Riviera and taught at Fern Adair Conservatory of the Arts and Las Vegas Academy. “I’m committed to helping our patients return to their peak performance as quickly as possible.”
In addition to helping dancers return to the stage after injuries, Dr. Vera focuses on providing her patients with evidence-based practices to prevent dance and sports-related injuries. She offers care for a wide range of orthopedic injuries, including shoulder, hip, knee and ankle surgeries, along with minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat joint issues.
“During my residency, I decided I wanted to provide healthcare for the dancers here in Las Vegas … to develop what we have here into something more supportive for performing artists in particular,” Dr. Vera says.
As a local resident, Dr. Vera enjoys attending Nevada Ballet Theatre performances with her three daughters, along with other events at The Smith Center such as Broadway musicals.
At the UMC Orthopedic & Spine Institute, she works alongside a world-class team of surgeons to deliver Nevada’s most advanced level of orthopedic care.
