Dr. Nicole Rynecki Baker

Elite New York sports medicine, now in South Florida

Dr. Nicole Rynecki Baker is an accomplished, fellowship-trained orthopedic sports medicine surgeon who brings world-class New York orthopedic care to Palm Beach County, Florida. Trained at two of the nation’s most prestigious orthopedic institutions, NYU Langone Health and Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), she specializes in the treatment of complex knee, hip and shoulder injuries in athletes of every level. She is an Assistant Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Education and training

Dr. Rynecki Baker earned her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, completed her orthopedic surgery residency at NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, and completed her fellowship in Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery. As a member of the New York Knicks medical staff, Dr. Rynecki Baker helped keep the team healthy and competing at the highest level throughout their historic 2026 NBA Championship season, the franchise’s first title in more than fifty years. She brings that same elite, performance-driven standard of care to every patient she treats.

Collegiate athletics

A former collegiate soccer player at Franklin & Marshall College, Dr. Rynecki Baker knows firsthand what it takes to come back from injury. She battled through multiple injuries during her playing career, including two ACL injuries, and returned to the field each time. That experience gives her a rare, personal understanding of the physical and mental challenges her patients face, and a deep commitment to getting them back to the activities they love.

Approach to care

Dr. Rynecki Baker is a highly skilled surgeon whose approach is built on precise, individualized care. She tailors every treatment plan to her patient’s anatomy, goals and sport. She uses advanced arthroscopic and reconstructive techniques to treat everything from hip impingement and kneecap instability to ACL tears and shoulder dislocations and arthritis. Her focus is not only on a full recovery but on a fast and safe return to sport. To accomplish this, she partners closely with physical therapists, coaches and athletic trainers. She uses objective measures of strength, motion and stability to guide each patient back to peak performance.

Industry leadership

Dr. Rynecki Baker is a rising leader in orthopedic sports medicine research and a sought-after speaker on the national and international stage. She has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in the field’s top journals, including The American Journal of Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy. She has also written multiple book chapters and produced peer-reviewed surgical technique videos.

Dr. Rynecki Baker’s work has earned national and international recognition. Her awards include The Eastern Orthopaedic Association Richmond Arthroscopy/Sports Medicine Fellow’s Award, The International Society for Hip Arthroscopy NextGen Bursary Award, and multiple awards from AANA and AAOS for research presentations and technique videos. She is also the recipient of NYU Langone’s prestigious Marian Frauenthal Sloane Clinical Research Award for Outcomes in Hip Arthroscopy. As a trainee, she won scholarships to both the AANA Annual Meeting and the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society Meeting. She is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Honor Society, two of medicine’s most distinguished honor societies.

She has presented her work at the premier meetings in her field, including the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA), the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES). She has also presented at international meetings in Belgium, Italy, Japan, South Korea, South Africa and the United Kingdom. She has authored publications with the JUPITER Study Group, an elite multicenter collaboration studying patellar instability. She is also a co-investigator on a national randomized controlled trial aimed at preventing stiffness after ACL reconstruction. She serves on the editorial board of Arthroscopy: The Journal of Arthroscopic and Related Surgery and on the AOSSM Communications and Marketing Committee. She is also devoted to education, contributing to AANA’s Self-Assessment Exams.

Breaking gender barriers

Dr. Rynecki Baker is a passionate advocate for women in medicine. Fewer than 1 in 10 practicing orthopedic surgeons in the United States is a woman, making it one of the least gender-diverse specialties in medicine. She is committed to changing that. She has volunteered with the Perry Initiative, which introduces young women to careers in orthopedic surgery and engineering, speaks on Women in Surgery panels, and is a longtime member of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society. Through mentorship and outreach, she works to inspire and support the next generation of women surgeons.