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OTA Traveling Fellows Report Successful Inaugural Program

By OTA Community posted 12-14-2022 15:29

  

In 2018, through the combined work of Anna Miller, MD; Brendan Patterson, MD; and Roy Sanders, MD; the OTA formalized plans for a traveling fellowship program. The OTA Traveling Fellowship was created to allow a small group of early- to mid-career orthopaedic trauma surgeons the opportunity to visit multiple trauma centers and promote social connection, mentorship, and clinical and scientific exchange. At the 2019 OTA Annual Meeting in Denver, the inaugural class of fellows was recruited, but due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, travel was delayed from the spring of 2020 until the fall of 2022. The tour commenced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from there the fellows visited 14 trauma centers along the Eastern seaboard of the United States and Canada over a 4-week period, concluding in Tampa at the 2022 OTA Annual Meeting.

The inaugural class of fellows included Milton Little, MD, from Cedars Sanai Medical Center in Los Angeles; Emily Wagstrom, MD, from Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis; and Brandon Yuan, MD, from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. The fellows travelled together for a total of 5 weeks, gave 33 lectures, and had the opportunity to meet and interact with department and division chairs, administrators, and hospital leaders.

The host institutions were Dalhousie University, Maine Medical Center, University of Pennsylvania, Boston Medical Center, Harvard Orthopaedic Trauma Initiative, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York University, Inova Fairfax, Shock Trauma, University of Virginia, Atrium Health, Grady Memorial/Emory, Medical University of South Carolina, and the Florida Orthopaedic Institute.

We found that three key lessons resonated throughout our time as traveling fellows, and remained consistent at each institution we visited:

Education is vital

It was incredible to see the steps that people take in sharing their ideas, experience, and knowledge. It’s not just residents and fellows; it’s allied staff, surgical techs and nurses, advanced practice providers, patients, and colleagues. And in this era of universal staff shortages, it was impactful to see how the education of a team leads to creating a sense of belonging and unity, which can be the spark to creating a sense of purpose for the work that we all love to do.

Connection is key

We had the opportunity to meet and connect with so many people. While we were delayed more than two years due to the pandemic, that only made the opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones so much more meaningful. We are very grateful to each of our host institutions for sharing your time with us. We learned a great deal from each institution and are thankful to have made so many new friends along the way.

Culture is essential

We had the opportunity to meet with leaders and department and division chairs at each center we visited. These conversations were incredibly insightful, and we observed differences in leadership style, how leaders inspire those around them, and how they create an effective culture for the team sport that is orthopedic trauma care. One thing was consistent: a clear and well-thought-out strategy is important, but even more important is the results realized through creation of an effective culture.

We would like to thank Dr. Sanders and the OTA for making this traveling fellowship possible. We would also like to thank each host institution for their hospitality, openness and teaching. The fellowship far exceeded our expectations and we are forever grateful to all of those involved.

The OTA Traveling Fellows
   Milton Little, MD
   Emily Wagstrom, MD
   Brandon Yuan, MD

OTA Traveling Fellows Report Successful Inaugural Program
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