Roy Meals M.D. grew up in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. He attended Rice University, majored in
biology, and gained a deep appreciation for the diversity and adaptations of animal life. At
Vanderbilt University Medical School, he further explored the workings of human tissues,
especially those of the musculoskeletal system.
Dr. Meals completed an orthopedic surgery residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital followed by a
hand surgery fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then
joined the faculty at UCLA where he is currently a Clinical Professor of
Orthopedic Surgery. Dr. Meals has served as President of the
American Society for Surgery of the Hand and has also been on
the editorial board of the Journal of Hand Surgery for most of his
career, including a five-year term as Editor-in-Chief.
In 2020, W.W. Norton released BONES: Inside and Out. From The
Wall Street Journal “a lively, lucid and entertaining tour of
bone in health and disease.” MUSCLE: The Gripping Story of
Strength and Movement (Norton, July 2023) was described by Kirkus describes as “an
easy-to-digest science lesson tailored for general readers. He is at work on LIGAMENTS: Holding Us Together, which will be published by Johns Hopkins University Press in 2025.
Other books authored by Dr. Meals include:
One Hundred Orthopedic Conditions Every Doctor Should Understand. Appreciated by
lay readers as well, one reviewer described the style as Dr. Seuss meets O Henry.
The Hand Owner’s Manual. A Hand Surgeon’s Thirty-Year Collection of Important
Information and Fascinating Facts. A reviewer states, “This book is written as a leisure
read with a great sense of humor and affection.”
Dr. Meals blogs about the musculoskeletal system at www.MuscleAndBone.info
When not seeing patients, teaching, traveling, or writing, Dr. Meals is likely exercising his
musculoskeletal system by gardening, cycling, or jogging.