AAOS Honors Trio for Leadership, Dedication to Orthopedic Industry

Orthopedic surgeons constantly strive to make a difference in their patients’ lives. Some, however, also succeed in making a difference in the world.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) honored three such high achievers during the third full day of its 2015 Annual Meeting (March 24-28) in Las Vegas, Nev. The surgeons—all specialists in various disciplines—were recognized for their leadership, community service, and perhaps most importantly, their commitment to the profession. Each member of the trio received awards (and a standing ovation) during the first half of the Academy’s ceremonial meeting inside the grandiose Venetian/Sands EXPO on Las Vegas Boulevard.

“Learning about their accomplishments makes me proud to be an orthopedic surgeon,” AAOS President Frederick M. Azar said during the final moments of his tenure. “I hope you feel the same.”

The first honoree was Bonnie Simpson Mason, M.D., recipient of the 2015 Diversity Award. The honor traditionally is given to physicians who make orthopedics more representative of, and accessible to, diverse patient populations; Mason, 44, is the youngest recipient of the award.

Simpson Mason is founder and executive director of Nth Dimensions Educational Solutions Inc., a Chicago, Ill.-based non-profit organization that in partnership with AAOS, develops and facilitates pipeline initiatives to diversify the future physician workforce in orthopedics and other specialties. The organization aims toincrease diversity in medicine, decrease gender and health disparities, and promote the professional development of aspiring minority physicians in orthopedic surgery. Participants gain early exposure and hands-on orthopedic experience, including clinical and research opportunities, as well as mentoring and leadership development.

Simpson Mason received her medical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., and completed a general surgical internship at the University of California-Los Angeles, and an orthopedic residency at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. From 2001 to 2006, she was in clinical practice and served as chief financial officer at Grant Orthopaedic Bone and Joint Surgeons. A diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis forced her to unexpectedly curtail the surgical and clinical practice of orthopedics, while providing her with the opportunity to mentor and help young women and minority students to pursue careers in orthopedic surgery.

Nth Dimensions “was born out of my desire to expose women and minorities to orthopedic surgery as a profession,” Simpson Mason said.

Approximately 175 students have been Nth Dimensions/AAOS Orthopaedic Summer Interns since the program’s inception. In Simpson Mason’s estimation, close to one-third of all African-American orthopedic residents have participated in at least one Nth Dimensions program. In 2012, Nth Dimensions scholars matched in orthopedic residency programs at a rate of 75 percent.

The Diversity Award “confirms for me that this is my role and purpose; to motivate young people to become orthopedic surgeons. I would not have been able to do this if I were still in the operating room, which proves that we can be effective in developing the next generation of physician leaders both in and outside of the operating room. I am truly honored and humbled to be recognized by my peers.”
 
In addition to serving as executive director of Nth Dimensions, Simpson Mason also develops curricula and speaks nationally to women’s and physician groups on leadership, diversity, business of medicine and life integration topics. She also serves on various AAOS committees and boards, including the Leadership Fellows Committee and the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society’s Membership Committee, and is the mentoring chair for the Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society. Simpson Mason is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and an adjunct professor of graduate medical education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

The second award was given to John F. Lovejoy Jr., M.D., of Jacksonsville, Fla. He received is the AAOS 2015 Humanitarian Award for his efforts to improve medical care in poor Caribbean nations. He has made annual trips to Grenada to upgrade medical equipment and build an arthroscopic system, and he’s also created an exchange program to bring Grenadian orthopedists to the United States for training.
 
In addition, Lovejoy has been traveling to Haiti to provide medical care for more than 40 years. Upon his retirement from regular practice, he increased his trips to the Caribbean, specifically Haiti, to increase continuity of care at hospitals there. He also mentored and trained medical team members and residents, including his son.
 
In 2006, Lovejoy agreed to lead the Crudem Foundation’s medical team—a foundation that supports Hôpital Sacré Coeur in Milot, Haiti—to provide quality healthcare to the sick and poor in the Haitian community. The small, full-service hospital offers tertiary medical care serving a surrounding population of more than 250,000.
 
Five days after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that devastated Haiti, Lovejoy and his surgical team returned to Hôpital Sacré Coeur to provide medical relief efforts. They transformed the 73-bed hospital into a more than 600-bed facility similar to a mobile Army surgical hospital unit. On an average trip, Lovejoy and his team treat approximately 50 to 100 patients in the clinic and perform 20-30 surgeries in a week. After the earthquake, the surgical team—which included his son, John F. Lovejoy III, M.D., now a third generation orthopedist—operated on more than 180 cases that first week and more than 150 cases with approximately 400-500 patients during a second trip two weeks later.
 
“There were 50,000 amputees [in Haiti] and 10,000 more after this earthquake. And, there are zero certified prosthetists in the country,” Lovejoy said.
 
Recognizing the mobility challenges these amputees would face, upon his return to Jacksonville, Lovejoy designed, funded, and built a prosthetic lab and shipped it to the hospital. He recruited U.S. orthopedic teams to teach and correct limb deformities, and trained local orthopedists to deliver a higher level of care. In order to make the program sustainable, Lovejoy also realized he had to train Haitians. He sponsored two Haitian students’ enrollment in a three-year college degree program at Don Bosco University in Prosthetics and Orthotics. The students worked in the prosthetic lab learning the trade, and graduated in February 2015.
 
Amputees at the hospital were fitted with prostheses, and Haitians continue to train to become certified prosthetist orthotists. “An amputee in a Third World country is sort of thrown out by society,” Lovejoy said. “If you can give them a prosthesis, you give them the ability to take care of themselves.”
 
The final honor at the ceremonial meeting went to Andrew J. Weiland, M.D., of New York, N.Y. He received the 2015 William W. Tipton, Jr., M.D., Leadership Award for his work in microvascular hand surgery. 
 
“This award has special meaning to me because I was friends with (Dr.) Bill Tipton,” Weiland said.  “He was a wonderful man, who had a passion for education, the orthopedic profession and service.”
 
Weiland is considered a pioneer and one of the nation’s preeminent experts in microvascular hand surgery. He is an attending orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery, and professor of orthopedic surgery and professor of surgery (plastic) at the Weill Cornell Medical College, both in New York City. He has been a visiting professor in almost all 50 states, has taught hand and microvascular surgery to fellows and residents for nearly 40 years, and has authored more than 250 research studies.
 
“I know Dr. Weiland because I’m an aging, broken down baby boomer, and he’s been someone I’ve trusted from the very beginning,” Today Show host Matt Lauer said in a video tribute to Weiland. “He’s one of the most talented surgeons you’ll ever meet and he’s also a compassionate person, and that’s what sets him apart from everyone else.”
 
Weiland earned his medical degree from Wake Forest University. He completed a general surgery internship at the University of Michigan and an orthopedic surgery residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. In 1976, he joined the Johns Hopkins orthopedic staff as chief of hand surgery. He is past president of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery, the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH), the American Orthopaedic Association, and the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS). He also is a former AAOS treasurer, and serves on the board of trustees of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
 
While at the ABOS, Weiland directly was involved in the creation of a subspecialty certification in hand surgery, a first for the orthopedic field, requiring the collaboration of three boards: ABOS, the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. 
 
“Dr. Weiland’s diplomacy was a key ingredient in making this happen,” said Peter J. Stern, M.D., the Norman S. and Elizabeth C.A. Hill professor and past chairman of orthopedic surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio. “He understands the importance of respect for dissenting opinions, building consensus through open discussions, listening and acknowledging the concerns of others, and being inclusive rather than exclusive.”

Most recently, his residents, fellows and colleagues established the Weiland Medal (within ASSH) to annually recognize a mid-career scientist who has made substantive contributions to hand surgery.