Dr. Arno Smit obtained his medical degree in 1994 from the University of Manitoba. He became a specialist in orthopedic surgery in 1999, after a five-year orthopedic surgery training program at the University of Manitoba. Since September of 1999, Dr. Smit has been practicing community-based general orthopedic surgery in White Rock, B.C.. His hospital-based practice is and has been primarily focused on hip and knee replacement surgery.

As a response to the constraints encountered in practicing patient-centered care, Dr. Smit designed and built the White Rock Orthopaedic Surgery Centre (‘WROSC’), which opened in 2007. This is a College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. (the ‘College’) accredited class-1 non-hospital surgical facility, able to accommodate a wide range of surgical procedures performed under local, spinal or general anaesthesia, with overnight stay as needed. The allowable scope of practice has been under the authority of the College. Over the years, well over 2000 surgical procedures have been performed, with minimal complications to report. In 2018, a College approved trial of total knee replacement surgery was successfully completed. It took until the summer of 2025 for total knee replacement and total hip replacement to be added to the list of ‘appropriate procedures’ which can be performed in a non-hospital surgical facility. WROSC is now accredited to perform unicompartmental knee replacement, total knee replacement as well as total hip replacement surgery. This is in addition to arthroscopic and open procedures related to shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, hip, knee, foot and ankle.

Beyond the extensive orthopaedic program, WROSC accommodates an ENT and podiatry program.