Yale

Benjamin Balme followed up his All-Ivy and All-American senior year on the undefeated 1960 Ivy Championship team with an opportunity to play professional football, but elected to attend medical school at his alma mater.  He graduated from Yale Medical School in 1966. 

Upon graduation from Yale medical school, Balme requested duty as a Naval Surgeon in Da Nang, Vietnam operating on Marine front line casualties.  While serving his country in Da Nang, he operated on Watts Humphrey ‘66, a Yale quarterback he had watched play while in medical school.  After finishing his tour of duty in 1969, he spent a year at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital’s Amputation Service and General Medicine Clinic before completing his orthopedic residency at UC San Francisco. 

In 1973, Balme moved to Klamath Falls, Oregon where he enjoyed a private practice in orthopedic surgery for 38 years.  He now resides in Portland, Oregon performing adult reconstructive hip and knee surgery while recruiting others to this practice.  In addition, he has volunteered his surgical services to impoverished youth in South Africa, Honduras and Cambodia.  He has also helped the homeless in Portland by volunteering to staff an orthopedic clinic for Central City.