The John J. Fahey, MD, Memorial North American Traveling Fellowship (NATF) originated in 1968 at an American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) Executive Committee meeting. In 1969, the committee's proposal to create a fellowship program for orthopaedic surgeons to travel to orthopaedic centers around the United States and Canada was accepted. The tour's purpose is to promote clinical and scientific exchange and fellowship at each orthopaedic program visited. The 2007 tour was organized by Sohail Mirza, MD (University of Washington), and was coordinated by Lesley Coussis of the AOA office and Trinity Wittman of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association.
The 2007 fellows, who hailed from diverse areas and orthopaedic specialties, were George Athwal, a shoulder and elbow surgeon from London, Ontario, Canada (University of Western Ontario); Bang Hoang, a musculoskeletal oncologist from Irvine, California (University of California, Irvine); Samir Mehta, a trauma surgeon from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (University of Pennsylvania); Brett Owens, a sports medicine surgeon from El Paso, Texas (William Beaumont Army Medical Center); and Jennifer Wolf, a hand and elbow surgeon from Denver, Colorado (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center).
We began our tour in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we were hosted by Edward Hanley Jr., MD, and Steven Frick, MD, of the Carolinas Medical Center. On October 1, 2007, the inaugural day of the North American Traveling Fellowship, the Department of Orthopaedics hosted an academic program in the morning. Later that day, the fellows had the opportunity to spend time with Dr. Hanley, who gave us many pearls of wisdom, including his philosophy of leadership and management as a chairman. The next day, each fellow spent the morning with members in their specific specialty, followed by a trip to the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, where we had a thrilling few rides on the manmade training center's river, complete with twelve-foot drops and one partial dunking of the group, nicknamed "The Frick Six" (Fig. 1). Our visit to Carolinas Medical Center was a great start to the 2007 tour.
We next journeyed to Baltimore, Maryland, to visit the Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland orthopaedic programs. We were hosted there by Frank Frassica, MD, and Kristy Weber, MD, and we stayed at Dr. Frassica's vacation home on the Magothy River. We attended an academic program, followed by a tour of the historic Johns Hopkins Hospital, including a visit to the famous portrait of "Halsted, Kelly, Osler, and Welch." We also had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The visit ended with a formal dinner at the Hopkins Club with the faculty.
The next morning, the fellows were greeted by Vincent Pellegrini, MD, the chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics, and escorted to the University of Maryland Medical Center. A lively academic session included advances in trauma and spine surgery at the Shock Trauma Center, a model state-supported trauma system. After the session, the fellows donned pink scrubs worn by the staff at Shock Trauma and headed to the rooftop helipad for a group picture with Drs. Pellegrini and Andrew Pollak. We then were taken on a tour of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems by Dr. Pollak and the surgical skills laboratory by Dr. Robert Sterling.
We boarded an Amtrak train the next morning for a short ride to Philadelphia, where we were hosted by Javad Parvizi, MD, and Todd Albert, MD, of the Rothman Institute. The Rothman Institute was founded by Richard Rothman, MD, whom we were able to meet briefly, and is affiliated with Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. We were welcomed at a formal dinner with the faculty at Dr. Albert's home in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. The next day, we attended journal club with the residents, hosted by Alan Hilibrand, MD, at his home, and had a stimulating discussion of current topics in orthopaedics.
On Monday, we shadowed various faculty members in our areas of interest and then met for the academic program in the afternoon, where all five fellows presented, as did basic-science and clinical faculty, who spoke on topics ranging from reverse total shoulder arthroplasty to autophagy to the molecular basis of cartilage formation. We then attended Dr. Gordon Bell's invited lecture on spinal cord injury in athletes at the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Society, held on the fiftieth floor of the Bell Tower building, a Philadelphia landmark.
We next traveled across the border to Canada, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with chilly weather and a beautiful view of the harbor as we came over the bridge. We were hosted by David Amirault, MD, FRCSC, and enjoyed journal club at the Fiasco Restaurant and grand rounds with the orthopaedic residents and faculty, as well as interacting with Michael Dunbar, MD, FRCSC, a recent American British Canadian (ABC) traveling fellow. We were able to spend time with faculty in our specialties as well.
The next stop was Montreal, where we were hosted by both of the orthopaedic programs there. Dr. Robert Turcotte of McGill University met us at the airport and took us to McGill for a quick tour of the Bone and Periodontal Research Laboratory, located within the Genomics Center, before dinner at the University Club. The next morning, Dr. Baxter Willis and the fellows spoke at grand rounds, and the talks were interspersed with case presentations. After lunch at the Montreal landmark, Schwartz's Deli, we then visited the McGill Medical Simulation Center, a state-of-the-art facility for anatomic dissection and education.
After a weekend exploring Montreal, Marc Isler, MD, FRCSC, hosted our visit to the University of Montreal orthopaedic program, where French is the primary language. The department hosted scientific presentations at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, including research presentations on hip resurfacing and the sacrum in spondylolisthesis. We also toured the research facilities at the medical center. The next morning, we visited Sacré-Coeur Hospital, where the fellows presented talks and the residents presented cases, kindly translated from French. After an educational morning, the fellows said our thanks to the faculty and residents, and bid adieu to Canada after a great visit.
Back in the United States, we arrived in Rochester, New York, to visit the University of Rochester, where our host was Regis O'Keefe, MD, PhD, the chair of the department. The fellows presented and then heard talks on the molecular biology of arthritis and bracing in posterior tibialis tendonitis. We then had an extensive tour of the department's research facilities by Dr. O'Keefe and Eddie Schwartz, PhD. Research is supported by over five million dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health, making the University of Rochester the top funded orthopaedic research program in the United States. A highlight of the visit was a tour of the historic George Eastman house, the home of the founder of Eastman Kodak. At a faculty dinner we met our other hosts, two former NATF fellows: Dr. Kenneth DeHaven and Dr. Judith Baumhauer. The next morning, the fellows presented talks at the Rochester Academy of Medicine, a historic mansion with a secret staircase.
Our next stop was Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. We toured the Orthopaedic Clinic and learned about the unique outcomes database maintained at Dartmouth, and then joined John Nutting, MD, and John-Erik Bell, MD, for dinner adjacent to the Dartmouth campus in Hanover. The next morning, the fellows presented talks and met with James Weinstein, DO, the chairman, before spending the morning with specialty-specific faculty.
We drove to Boston and checked into the Liberty Hotel, an historic reuse of the Charles Street jail with preservation of the original brick building and window bars. We were feted at a formal dinner by the Massachusetts General Hospital faculty, hosted by Harry Rubash, MD. After a free day in Boston, which several of us spent with our families, we were hosted by Boston University Medical Center, beginning with a visit to the F1 Boston racetrack, where we competed hotly with several Boston University orthopaedic residents in racing customized vehicles at speeds of up to 40 mph. This was followed by dinner at Legal Seafoods, hosted by Thomas Einhorn, MD, chairman of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Boston University. The following day we participated in the academic program at Boston University Medical Center, led by Dr. Einhorn and Paul Tornetta III, MD.
The afternoon was spent at Massachusetts General Hospital, with an academic program in the historic Ether Dome, the location of the first use of ether for anesthesia. We were hosted by Dr. Rubash as well as James Herndon, MD, and James Heckman, MD. Unfortunately, Dr. Hoang had to return home that day because of the wildfires that were threatening his home in California.
The following morning, we visited the offices of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, where Dr. Heckman hosted us. We learned about the inner workings of this premier journal's editorial and copyediting process, as well as the electronic management of The Journal's information by Robert Poss, MD. The fellows had the rare opportunity to hold the first volume published in 1889.
We next traveled by train to Providence, Rhode Island, to visit Brown University, where we were hosted by previous NATF fellow Arnold-Peter Weiss, MD. At grand rounds the next day, we learned about the multiple projects ongoing in the Department of Orthopaedics, including the basic science of anterior cruciate ligament tears and cartilage signaling in osteoarthritis, as well as carpal kinematics. After the fellows each spent time with faculty members in their subspecialty, Dr. Ehrlich led a tour of the laboratories, which was followed by lunch with the residents. In the afternoon, the fellows had a special behind-the-scenes tour of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, with a close-up look at ancient helmets, coins, and drawings by Van Gogh.
Our next stop was the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, N.Y. We arrived by train, went on a tour of historic Bellevue Hospital, and met our hosts, Kenneth Egol, MD, a previous ABC fellow, and Joseph Zuckerman, MD, the chair of the program and a previous NATF and ABC traveling fellow. The next morning, the fellows attended the Howard Rosen Tri-State Trauma symposium and gave talks at the conclusion of the day. The weekend in the Big Apple was then capped off with second-row seats, arranged for us by the Hospital of Joint Diseases, at Monty Python's "Spamalot," the hit musical. The fellows enjoyed their time in New York, including watching the Red Sox win game three of the World Series at ESPN Zone in Times Square.
The fellows next flew to Miami and were met by Frank Eismont, MD, the department chairman. Dr. Hoang rejoined the tour after spending time with his family during the California wildfires, which were only a few hundred feet from his home. After specialty-specific visits with faculty, the afternoon academic programs featured talks by the fellows, as well as resident talks on the epidemiology of chondrosarcoma and diagnostic modalities in posterior tibial tendonitis. We were then given a behind-the-scenes tour of the University of Miami Tissue Bank by Thomas Temple, MD. The University of Miami visit ended with a boat cruise of Biscayne Bay.
We were next hosted by Dr. John Kirkpatrick, the chairman of the University of Florida-Shands at Jacksonville. We began our visit with local AOA member John Lovejoy, MD, for a river tour on his boat, "Cast Off," along the Jacksonville River, and we visited the summer home of the DuPont family. This was followed by a stimulating journal club and dinner with the faculty and residents at the riverfront home of Hud Berrey, MD. The following day's academic program also integrated the faculty of the Mayo Clinic, led by Mary O'Connor, MD.
Our final stop was Atlanta, where we visited the Emory University orthopaedic program, hosted by the chairman, James Roberson, MD, and Scott D. Boden, MD. The next morning, the fellows presented talks at grand rounds, followed by clinical shadowing in each of our specialty areas. This was followed by tours of the campus, Emory Orthopaedic Center, Grady Hospital, and the research laboratories at the Veterans Affairs Hospital, as well as informal Atlanta sightseeing. Dr. Boden provided us with useful advice for academic success and organization. Our final formal dinner was hosted by the Emory faculty at the Druid Hills Country Club.
The North American Traveling Fellowship of 2007 was a professional opportunity of a lifetime for each of us. A highlight was the relationships forged along the way with faculty and residents at each program. Most importantly, the bond formed by the five of us will extend throughout our professional careers in collaboration and friendship. We have many memories of our five weeks together, during which we traveled long distances and had many adventures (Table I). A more detailed description of the 2007 North American Traveling Fellowship with pictures from each site that was visited can be found at . As friends and colleagues, we can look forward to an extended professional and personal association (Fig. 2). We are grateful to the American Orthopaedic Association and the Canadian Orthopaedic Association for providing this opportunity and to the programs we visited for hosting us.