The Leadership Fellowships of the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA)
are designed to recognize young leaders for their early contributions to
orthopaedics by identifying and promoting their leadership skills to the
broader orthopaedic community. The tours are structured to develop the
fellows' leadership skills and leadership networks through interactions and
experiences with the world's orthopaedic leaders and previous AOA fellows.
These experiences prepare the fellows for the greater challenges of leading
and improving the specialty by confronting critical issues impacting the
specialty. Alumni of AOA Leadership Fellowships have access to a Community of
Leaders who share similar aspirations for leadership. Leadership Fellowship
alumni share experiences and knowledge as they grow their careers and
contribute to the specialty of orthopaedics.
Dr. Robert I. Harris of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, developed the concept of
the American, British, and Canadian (ABC) Traveling Fellowship in 1948, during
his year as president of the American Orthopaedic Association. The original
goal of the tour was to allow British orthopaedic surgeons to visit centers in
North America in a time of post-World War II difficulties. The initial group
from Great Britain consisted of thirteen orthopaedic surgeons. The following
year, fifteen orthopaedic surgeons from the United States and Canada visited
Great Britain, and the tradition has continued in the same alternating
fashion—inviting South Africa to the tour in 1983 and Australia and New
Zealand in 1985. The 2003 tour was the fifty-first exchange with seven
orthopaedic surgeons from North America traveling to Great Britain, Australia,
and New Zealand.
We fellows departed April 5, 2003, from Chicago at a time of relative world
chaos and traveled to London, leaving Dr. Mahomed quarantined for two and a
half weeks in Toronto for having worked in a facility involved with the severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
The British Orthopaedic Association and hosts, David Adams and Dr. Robin
Allum, coordinated a whirl-wind trip through England and Scotland and took us
to Bristol, Bath, Birmingham, Stoke on Trent, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford,
Edinburgh, and London. There were wonderful combinations of scientific
sessions, sightseeing, and exceptional food and drink in each location. In
each center, we were fortunate to meet surgeons who are leading the field of
orthopaedics in their respective subspecialties. In England, scientific topics
included resurfacing hip arthroplasty in Birmingham, dynamic magnetic
resonance imaging for the study of knee motion in London, and a noninvasive
motorized expandable tumor prosthesis at the Royal National Orthopaedic
Hospital in Stanmore. Some of us saw an Oxford unicompartmental knee
replacement performed. We learned about the current health-care system,
working hours, and resident education at the John Radcliffe Hospital in
Oxford. In Edinburgh, Charles Court-Brown stimulated lively discussion after
lyrically presenting a randomized study of internal compared with external
fixation of tibial fractures.
2003 ABC Traveling FellowsMark E. Easley, MDDuke UniversityKevin A. Hildebrand, MDUniversity of CalgaryNizar N. Mahomed, MDUniversity of TorontoSohail K. Mirza, MDUniversity of WashingtonKhaled J. Saleh, MDUniversity of MinnesotaDavid L. Skaggs, MDUniversity of Southern CaliforniaKristy L. Weber, MDJohns Hopkins University
2003 ABC Traveling Fellows
Mark E. Easley, MD
Duke University
Kevin A. Hildebrand, MD
University of Calgary
Nizar N. Mahomed, MD
University of Toronto
Sohail K. Mirza, MD
University of Washington
Khaled J. Saleh, MD
University of Minnesota
David L. Skaggs, MD
University of Southern California
Kristy L. Weber, MD
Johns Hopkins University
Six fellows (without Sohail) left London for Sydney via Bangkok on April
25. The Australian portion of the tour was hosted by Dr. Richard de Steiger,
who coordinated three cities in an amazing seven days. In Sydney, we toured a
comprehensive hands-on teaching center and heard about longterm outcomes of
patellar tendon compared with hamstring grafts for anterior cruciate ligament
reconstruction. Several days later, we watched the use of an image-guided
total knee replacement system and learned details about the Australian Hip and
Knee Registry.
The tour ended with five days in New Zealand hosted by Dr. Haemish
Crawford. We learned about the nonlitigious health-care system and resident
training program in this country. Scientific sessions included a stimulating
talk about titanium mesh cages after vertebrectomy. The group returned to
North America on May 9—forever changed by their experiences.
We ABC fellows will long remember the tour as a unique
opportunity—traveling to orthopaedic centers throughout the world and
meeting men and women who will be collaborators, mentors, and friends for a
lifetime. Equally important, we developed bonds that will be remembered
throughout our personal and professional lives. We are grateful to the AOA and
to the Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA) and are honored to have been
chosen as ambassadors from North America.
The AOA North American Traveling Fellowship (NATF), supported by Synthes,
provides an opportunity to spend five weeks traveling to orthopaedic centers
in the United States and Canada. It has promoted important clinical and
scientific exchange and fellowship and has developed into an intense
introduction to the diverse ways that leaders address the challenges that face
orthopaedics today.
The 2003 North American Traveling Fellowship brought together four American
and one Canadian orthopaedic surgeon with diverse interests, including
computer navigation, cartilage transplantation, tissue engineering, spinal
cord regeneration, and longterm outcomes. Differing backgrounds and interests
added to the value of the experience; we were able to focus on overarching
leadership issues in orthopaedics rather than in one specific specialty. In
Canada, we were introduced to the combination of scientific and socioeconomic
discourse that would characterize the trip, with discussions on the different
crises facing the Canadian and United States health-care systems with Drs.
William Dust, Charles Rennie, and Peter MacDonald.
In Minnesota, we were hosted by Drs. Khaled J. Saleh, Peter A. Cole, Denis
R. Clohisy, and Marc F. Swiontkowski at the University of Minnesota and by
Drs. Alex Y.S. Shin and Robert H. Cofield at the Mayo Clinic, where we
discussed the financial challenges of running a department and the orthopaedic
clinician scientist.
In Chicago, Drs. Michael F. Schafer and Andrew D. Bunta at Northwestern
University and Dr. Michael A. Simon at the University of Chicago arranged a
stimulating educational and social program. Dr. Simon discussed orthopaedic
leadership and the role of the AOA programs in developing leaders.
Development of a research program and residency training issues were topics
discussed with Drs. Jody Buckwalter and Stuart L. Weinstein at the University
of Iowa. At Washington University, Drs. Richard H. Gelberman, Ken Yamaguchi,
Martin I. Boyer, and William Maloney joined us in an indepth discussion about
building an orthopaedic department, including faculty recruitment and
retention.
Drs. James H. Beaty and S. Terry Canale, in Memphis, discussed leadership
roles within the AOA, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the growth of the Campbell Clinic.
Dr. Fred M. Azar gave us his insights as a residency program director. Dr.
Randy Loder hosted a wonderful experience in Indianapolis. In Birmingham, Drs.
John M. Cuckler and John S. Kirkpatrick showed us a detailed system that
generated outcome scores. The implant retrieval lab was a treasure chest of
data.
2003 North American Traveling FellowsDavid L. Glaser, MDUniversity of PennsylvaniaJames T. Guille, MDAlfred I. duPont HospitalJason L. Koh, MDNorthwestern UniversityBrian K. Kwon, MD, FRCSUniversity of British ColumbiaWilliam M. Mihalko, MD, PhDState University of New York at Buffalo
2003 North American Traveling Fellows
David L. Glaser, MD
University of Pennsylvania
James T. Guille, MD
Alfred I. duPont Hospital
Jason L. Koh, MD
Northwestern University
Brian K. Kwon, MD, FRCS
University of British Columbia
William M. Mihalko, MD, PhD
State University of New York at Buffalo
In Texas, Dr. Bruce Moseley spoke on his controversial study on arthroscopy
for the treatment of knee arthritis. Dr. Ron Lindsey hosted a wonderful
evening with the residents. We visited Parkland and the Texas Scottish Rite
Hospitals and discussed developments in academic medicine with Dr. Robert
Bucholz.
We departed forever changed and inspired by our experience of seeing
success in so many different forms. The 2003 AOA North American Traveling
Fellows are grateful to the AOA and COA and to our many hosts for the
opportunity to visit and learn from so many exceptional health centers. We
look forward to seeing our new friends and mentors again.