Melvin Jahss, MD, pioneer in the emerging specialty of foot and ankle surgery and an outstanding teacher known for his seriousness mixed with humor, died at home in New York City on February 14, 2009. He was eighty-seven years of age.
Born in New York in 1921, Dr. Jahss was the son of an orthopaedic surgeon who was on the faculty of the Hospital for Joint Diseases. He attended New York University Medical College, graduating in 1943. He then enlisted in the United States Navy and served in China during World War II. On completion of his military obligations, in 1947, he returned to New York to enter the orthopaedic residency program at the Hospital for Joint Diseases. During residency, he received the gold medal from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for researching 450 cases of slipped capital femoral epiphysis, which at that time was an often misdiagnosed condition of the hip. After completion of his residency in 1951, Dr. Jahss served as a medical officer in the Korean War. On his return, he succeeded Paul Lapidus, MD, as the Chief of the Foot and Ankle Service at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, a position he held until his retirement in 1997. In 1970, he established one of the first fellowships in foot and ankle reconstructive surgery in the United States.
Until his retirement, he devoted himself to practicing and teaching in his surgical specialty. He trained more than 350 residents and numerous fellows, many of whom went on to direct residency and fellowship training programs in foot and ankle surgery worldwide.
In January 1969, Dr. Jahss along with Dr. Nathaniel Gould, Dr. Nicholas Giannestras, Dr. Robert Joplin, Dr. Hampar Kelikian, Dr. Paul Lapidus, and Dr. Joseph Milgram met at Dr. Jahss's apartment in New York to form the American Orthopaedic Foot Society, which later became the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS). Dr. Jahss served as the first secretary of the AOFAS. He ultimately became president of the organization and, as president, proclaimed "our ultimate goal is to educate the public and to provide them with the best foot care at the highest academic and professional level." He inspired numerous students and researchers worldwide to pursue this field with a passion.
Dr. Jahss authored forty-six peer-reviewed publications in the area of foot and ankle reconstruction. In addition, he was the sole editor of the encyclopedic textbook, Disorders of the Foot, published first in 1982. He also completed a second edition, titled Disorders of the Foot and Ankle, in 1991. This multivolume textbook continues to be recognized as one of the outstanding contributions in the area of foot and ankle problems.
As founding editor of the most prestigious foot and ankle journal, Foot and Ankle International, he helped guide the emerging subspecialty by fostering a higher standard for orthopaedic scholarship regarding the lower extremity.
In 1990, he received the AOFAS Humana Award for Excellence in recognition of clinical research leading to advances in the care of patients with foot and ankle disorders. At that time, Malcolm Brahms, one of the early members of the AOFAS, said, "the organization, the recruitment, the desire and the impetus for our society were initiated by Melvin Jahss."
Not only did Dr. Jahss embody the values of a dedicated physician and surgeon, but he was also a proponent of a well-balanced liberal arts education and personally pursued numerous interests outside of orthopaedics. His fondness for Japanese lacquer art culminated in his coauthorship of the 1971 landmark textbook, Inro and Other Miniature Forms of Japanese Lacquer Art. Other personal collections included Tiffany glass paintings, American and Chinese pottery, Japanese sword guards, fine antique furniture, music, antique silver, minerals, butterflies, and walking sticks. In each of his collections, he mastered the full breadth of the subject with the same intensity and zeal with which he embraced orthopaedic surgery.
Dr. Jahss's unique and memorable teaching style included the coining of several words and phrases that were well known to all who worked with him. Some of these words included hungybungies (food), ichalbichal (unpleasant appearance of an appendage), schguoogey (to manually release a contraction), schmoggler (tool to realign malpositioned structures), and shquiggleshquaggle (surgical manipulation to free up an anatomic structure).
Even after his retirement in 1997 because of poor health, he always remained available to his colleagues and continued to display the high level of enthusiasm for which he was known. Dr. Jahss is survived by his wife Harriet and his stepchildren. His legacy in foot and ankle surgery extends worldwide and remains a source of inspiration to all in the field. His clinical acumen, insight, and skill were well recognized by all who knew him.
—L.C.S.
J.D.Z.