AOA-JOA Traveling Fellowship 2006

Abstract

The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) Japanese-American Exchange Traveling Fellowship was originated in 1992 and was coordinated by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) until 1999, when the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) assumed the coordinating role. The JOA fellowship is sponsored by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association and grew out of the Kashiwagi-Suzuki Traveling Fellowship, founded in part by Professor Emeritus Daiji Kashiwagi of Kobe University in Kobe, Japan. The program is a reflection of the commitment of both the American and Japanese orthopaedic communities to excellence and education through international exchange. The educational exchange between the United States and Japan allows American fellows to visit the top academic centers and historical landmarks of Japan while Japanese fellows center their tour around the Annual Meeting of the AAOS. The Japanese tour concludes with one Japanese fellow attending the Annual Meeting of the AOA. The tour extends three to four weeks, with United States fellows traveling on the even years and Japanese fellows traveling on the odd years. 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. More information on the application process for this fellowship can be found at www.aoassn.org/FellowshipsTop.asp. In 2006, the four American Fellows chosen for this tour were Scott F.M. Duncan, MD, MPH, a hand and upper-extremity surgeon from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona; Eric P. Hofmeister, MD, a hand surgeon from the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, California; Michael P. Bolognesi, MD, an adult reconstructive surgeon from Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; and Rena L. Stewart, MD, FRCS, an orthopaedic traumatologist formerly from Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, who has since relocated to the University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System (Fig. 1). The …