Physician Features
Meet our 2026-2027 ABMS Scholar: Dr. Zachary Carter!
The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) has selected Zachary Carter, MD as the 2026–2027 ABMS Scholars Program™ recipient. Established in 2014, the one-year, part-time program supports early-career physicians and researchers in scholarship and leadership development focusing on initial and continuing board certification. Each Scholar receives a $15,000 financial award.
Dr. Zachary Carter was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. After earning his bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from the University of Utah, he spent six years gaining hands-on healthcare experience before pursuing medical school at George Washington University School of Medicine. During that time, he worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant at Huntsman Cancer Institute, where he cared for patients recovering from cancer surgery. He later served as an assistant study coordinator at the Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, where he worked closely with occupational medicine physicians. It was during this time that he was first introduced to the field of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R). On his last day before leaving for medical school, a mentor encouraged him to explore physiatry, believing it would be a great fit for his interests and strengths. At the time, Dr. Carter had never heard of the specialty, but that conversation sparked an interest that ultimately shaped his career. He completed his PM&R residency training at Loma Linda University in Southern California. Following residency, he and his family moved across the country once again so that he could pursue an ACGME-accredited Pain Medicine Fellowship at Dartmouth University. His experiences caring for patients throughout recovery and rehabilitation continue to influence his approach to medicine today.
Since joining Duke University as an Assistant Professor, Dr. Carter has expanded his efforts to advance interdisciplinary spine care and develop innovative approaches to improving patient outcomes. He co-founded the ASCEND Clinic, a collaborative care model that integrates rehabilitation medicine, neurosurgery, physical therapy, and pain psychology to address the whole person, not just their symptoms. He is also exploring how technology, artificial intelligence, and wearable devices can help clinicians track patient progress more effectively and deliver more personalized rehabilitation care.
Through his project, Advanced Spine: An Interdisciplinary Value-based Curriculum to Train Physicians to Implement Biopsychosocial Care Models; Dr. Carter is advancing value-based, interdisciplinary approaches to chronic pain management. The program will provide education and practical tools to help physicians integrate biopsychosocial care into clinical practice, while using patient outcomes and emerging technologies to support continuous improvement in care delivery.
When he's not caring for patients, Dr. Carter enjoys traveling and spending time with his family. A sports enthusiast, he loves playing golf, soccer, and baseball with his sons and is coaching his oldest son's flag football team this fall.
