Retired Napa orthopaedic surgeon J.C. Pickett, M.D., will be inducted this week into the Vintage High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Dr. Pickett—a past president of the California Medical Association (CMA)—volunteered his time as team physician for both Napa High School and Vintage High School for three decades—while treating nearly 100 patients each week at his Napa solo practice.

“I’ve been very fortunate being able to do what I do,” said Dr. Pickett. “I knew from the time that I was a junior medical student — which at that point was when you started seeing patients — that I wanted to go do surgery.”

A longtime physician leader, Dr. Pickett also served as President of the Napa County Medical Society, chair of the CMA Board of Trustees, and a member of the CMA House of Delegates. Although he retired from active practice in the early 2000s, Dr. Pickett has continued to have a regular presence at CMA’s annual House of Delegates, serving on the Past Presidents Delegation.

A West Virginia native and retired Colonel of the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Dr. Pickett was certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1955 and became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1967 and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 1968. Pickett served as clinical instructor at Ohio State University, Chief of staff and Chief of Surgery at Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa and board member of the Napa County Chapter of the American Cancer Society.

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