This blog post is authored by Eugenia Lin, 2020-2021 Orthopaedic Value-Based Health Care fellow at Dell Medical School.
Despite delays and challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in the 2021 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting, which took place in sunny San Diego. As a medical student and former fellow within the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care, this experience served as a welcome to the orthopaedic community. Networking with other orthopaedic surgeons and organizations, learning about new innovations in the orthopaedic specialty and being a part of Dell Medical School’s research showcase all amounted to an amazing and unique opportunity.
A number of Dell Med faculty members were main features of the meeting’s programming. In a discussion moderated by Karl Koenig, Kevin Bozic joined experts around the country on patient-reported outcomes, highlighting new tools that the Musculoskeletal Institute at UT Health Austin has implemented, such as an artificial intelligence-based predictive analytics tool for shared decision-making in total knee arthroplasty.
Anthony “AJ” Johnson chaired the medical student program at the meeting to inspire the future generation of orthopaedic surgeons, helping with both hands-on skills learning and preparation for the journey of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon, including residency and beyond. Our residents were also showcased in this meeting, including Clare Ryan’s presentation on “Problematic Initial Recovery after Carpal Tunnel Release Surgery” from research done with David Ring. Her talk exemplified the innovations of the Dell Med model in musculoskeletal care, further demonstrating to our colleagues across the country the new directions of value-based care. Other Dell Med presenters included M. Catherine Sargent, Matthew Ellington, Prakash Jayakumar, and resident Petar Golijanin.
Some of my favorite parts of the conference trip included learning about different technologies created by orthopaedic surgeons through a “Shark Tank” panel discussion, looking at new hardware with the Musculoskeletal Institute faculty on the exhibition floor and having a fun outing at Petco Park watching the San Diego Padres play the Houston Astros (which brought a little slice of Texas to the experience). This annual meeting was a fantastic opportunity to bring my fellowship experience in full circle, taking the world-class education from faculty members at Dell Med to the national stage. I could not be more thankful.