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Tulane orthopedic surgeon has passion for pumpkin portraits

“I did Frida Kahlo and Beyonce one year, and then Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Taylor Swift, and then my friend’s dog, Sneaker,” Dr. Hill said.

NEW ORLEANS — It would hardly be the Halloween season without the glow of Jack-o-Lanterns on front porches. 

And in New Orleans, there’s a pumpkin carver with a passion for portraits who is carving out a space for herself in another industry, too. 

Kelly Hill’s got guts. Lots of pumpkin guts.

“Okay, we got this,” Dr. Hill said as she steadied herself, carving tool in hand, over a shiny orange pumpkin. “It’s just another year. You’re just doing it again.”

She has some metaphorical guts, too. We’ll explain that in a moment. But every October for more than a decade, she’s stood at her kitchen countertop in her New Orleans home. 

“I just made a little mistake. But, part of it is acceptance,” she said, looking up from her pumpkin. 

Her assistant, pet cat Catcow, is nearby seeking any free hand for pets. 

The gorgeous gourds Hill carves take hours to complete, using mostly rubber stamp carving tools. 

“I usually measure it in Harry Potters. It’s usually about two Harry Potters,” she laughs in response to the length of time it takes to finish a pumpkin. 

Those movies must be inspiring some magic. From Dolly Parton to Ted Lasso, Hill’s pumpkin portraits are intricate, unique, and awesome. 

“I did Frida Kahlo and Beyonce one year, and then Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Taylor Swift, and then my friend’s dog, Sneaker,” she said. 

A few years ago, she even carved her boss, Dr. Felix “Buddy” Savoie.

Yes — this intricate work comes from the steady hand of a surgeon. 

Introducing: Doctor Kelly Hill. 

“I am a sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeon and I work at Tulane,” said Dr. Hill. 

She’s a Stanford University graduate who moved to New Orleans for medical school, completed a sports medicine fellowship at Vanderbilt, and then came back to New Orleans with special training in hip arthroscopy. 

And this former collegiate rower is familiar with hip pain. 

“I was an athlete in college, and I had a problem with my hip, and I had a hip scope in college. And now look at me, I’m doing it to other people,” she said with a smile. 

She’s the only one on her team at Tulane who specializes in hip arthroscopy. And she’s already a rarity. 

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, less than 7 percent of orthopedic surgeons are women. 

Even with a full week of clinic and surgery, and working athletic events nights and weekends.. Once a year, she scrubs in with a set of pumpkin carving tools. 

“You have to maintain stuff you’re interested in to be a person,” said Dr. Hill. “So much of the time I spend talking to patients is like, ‘what do you like to do, and what do you want to get back to?’ when they have an injury.”

So this year, her subject is another woman carving out her own place in a man’s world: U.S. Women’s Rugby Player, Olympic medalist,  and social media star Ilona Maher.  

“I cover rugby in town as well, so I’m learning another obscure sport, and she’s like funny and admirable and I like her.”

Maher is now on Dancing with the Stars and has become a role model for girls everywhere. 

“It was very inspirational watching her in the lead up to the Olympics,  just be kind of unapologetic about the less coverage that women get in sports, and there is some overlap with that with medicine and surgery and orthopedics,” said Dr. Hill. 

Maher also doesn’t shy away from talking about mental health in athletics; another connection she has with Dr. Hill. 

“I totally appreciate that what my job is, is like fixing something physical. I just don’t think that you can separate it from the mental part,” she said. 

For her, that ‘mental part’ is setting aside time each year to let her artistic side take over; adding one more squash silhouette to her lineup of glowing gourds. 

Maher took notice of Dr. Hill’s pumpkin shortly after she posted the end result on Instagram. Maher’s mother liked the photo first, then Maher commented, “Wow!”. Maher’s sister also commented with her compliments for Dr. Hill. 

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