Some people are lucky enough to realize their calling at an early age – Richard Mullins is one of them. From the age of 10, Dr. Mullins knew his passion lay in medicine, guided, in part by family members he respected who were pursing medical careers. Equally influential on the young Mullins was his tendency towards broken bones. He experienced a lot of them, as well as a few dislocated shoulders, usually as a result of a sporting adventure gone wrong.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Dr. Mullins attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, where he received a bachelor degree in biochemistry. He attended medical school at Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at Indiana University in Indianapolis.