Professor Heather Vallier (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio) is the 36th President of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) and the first ever female President. She is well known in the world of orthopaedic trauma and has been instrumental in several leading publications within this field. In this podcast we discuss the importance of recognising psychological trauma and how this is both cost effective and improves patient outcomes. We discuss the evolution of trauma care including early appropriate care, predictive modelling and clinical grading systems. We also discuss several METRC studies which have shaped trauma practice in recent years.