Background

Dr. Brannan traveled to the Emerald Coast of Florida following completion of his residency training.  While there he was assigned to both a Special Operations Surgical Team and Eglin Air Force Base Hospital during the peak of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Dr. Brannan served as Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery overseeing the care of America’s best -- our Air Force, Navy, and Army Special Operations personnel including Navy Seals, Green Berets, and Air Force Pararescue Personnel.  He served on six deployments on four continents including Afghanistan and the advance team for the Haitian earthquake relief.  Dr. Brannan was given multiple awards including a Bronze Star and Outstanding Unit Award with Valor.       

In 2015, Dr. Brannan transitioned after nine years of trauma and sports care to attend the prestigious Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship at OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, North Carolina.  His wife and children always knew Shea had a passion for upper extremity care, but delayed chasing this dream until the pace of military deployments and young children slowed.  He trained with several world-renowned surgeons including Dr. Glenn Gaston.  His mentors cared for elite professional athletes and served as pioneers in the design of modern hand, wrist, and elbow implants.  Dr. Brannan’s education included a traveling fellowship to Barcelona, Spain to work with renowned wrist surgeon Marc Garcia-Elias.  Dr. Brannan to this day considers his Carolina mentors lifelong friends. 

United States Air Force Retiree

Upon completion of his fellowship in 2016, Dr. Brannan returned to Northwest Florida.  While here, he served as the Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Eglin Air Force Base Hospital.  He spearheaded upper extremity care for America’s elite athlete – our men and women of the Armed Services.  Dr. Brannan provided tremendous care for these individuals with advanced techniques in hand, wrist, and elbow arthroscopy and complex joint replacement.  His unique experience here included service as orthopaedic hand surgeon in “The Cure” International Children’s Hospital in Northwest Africa.  

Dr. Brannan proudly retired from the United States Air Force in the summer of 2020 with well over a decade of experience.  He returns home to UAMS Orthopaedics in Northwest Arkansas.  Shea and his wife are extremely active spending time together with family and friends – in particular their 4 children.  They look for an excuse to be outside and support everything Razorback.  Shea has a thirst for continued education and the development modern techniques in the elbow, wrist, and hand.  He is widely published in both books and peer reviewed journals.  Dr. Brannan is a board-certified fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a Member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.  He values “individualized” personal treatment and accessibility for his patients.  A proud member of the Rogers Wall of Distinction, his chief professional goal is reciprocating to Arkansas all it has given to him and his family.