Dr. Pat Connolly graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and completed residencies at Brown University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He was named the John P. Kostuik Fellow in Adult Spine Reconstruction at The Toronto Hospital, and served as chief of the Spine Service at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Syracuse. He was associate professor of orthopaedics at State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. He joined the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center as director of the new Spine Center and chief of the Division of Spine Surgery. He is also professor of orthopedics & rehabilitation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS).

In addition to his extensive clinical experience in spine surgery and general orthopedic surgery, Dr. Connolly is committed to training the next generation of physicians, serving as a member of the North American Spine Society's committee on resident and fellow education, and conducting numerous post-graduate courses and symposia. He has given dozens of academic and research presentations, authored fourteen book chapters, and edited the soon-to-be published textbook, Advanced Spinal Surgical Technologies.