Andrew Gurman Receives AAOS Leadership Award

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has bestowed its 2022 William W. Tipton Jr. Leadership Award to Andrew W. Gurman, M.D., FAAOS.
 
The Tipton Leadership Award recognizes AAOS members who have demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities that have benefitted the orthopedic community, patients, and/or the American public. The award honors and celebrates the life, accomplishments, and qualities of the late William W. Tipton Jr., M.D., an orthopedic surgeon, educator, and former AAOS executive vice president.
 
“Dr. Tipton was an early mentor to me when I first got involved in the American Medical Association and I am incredibly honored and humbled to be the recipient of the AAOS Tipton Leadership Award for service,” said Gurman. “To be recognized by one’s own peers for the work that I have done in organized medicine on behalf of physicians and our patients is very meaningful. I think Dr. Tipton would have been pleased with the way my career in organized medicine has played out.”
 
Gurman is a leader among leaders, according to orthopedic surgeon Casey Jo Humbyrd, M.D., FAAOS, and evidenced by his achievement of being one of only two orthopedic surgeons to be named president of the American Medical Association (AMA).
 
“Andy, through his effective leadership as president of the AMA, has forever changed the profession of medicine for surgeons and physicians for the better, while promoting and maintaining our appropriate focus on the patients we serve,” said Humbyrd.
 
Dr. Gurman’s tenure as president of the AMA was a capstone for a career in organized medicine, spanning more than 40 years of leadership and advocacy for the medical profession. His earliest involvement began with the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society and, shortly thereafter, the Pennsylvania Medical Society in the 1980s.
 
“He was a regular fixture in Harrisburg, where he built coalitions with trauma surgeons, obstetricians and gynecologists, neurosurgeons, and other orthopedic surgeons,” said Humbyrd. “Andy recognized early on that there is strength in numbers, and when members of medicine can come together and fight the good fight together—we are unstoppable.”
 
Gurman was speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Delegates from 2003 to 2007 and was later elected speaker of the AMA House of Delegates, serving from 2011 to 2015 before becoming president in 2016. He was also named to Modern Healthcare magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare” in 2016.
 
As president of the AMA, he successfully testified before the U.S Congress in the House Judiciary Committee against the proposed mergers of several large insurance companies, which would have been anti-competitive and problematic for physicians, particularly those in private practice.
 
During all of this work, Gurman has maintained a private practice dedicated to hand surgery in Altoona, Pa., where he is known for his work, quality, and attention to detail. He also currently serves on the AAOS Delegation to the AMA.
 
“Dr. Gurman’s demeanor and passion for making sure that patients remain the first and foremost priority of the medical profession is no secret,” said Michael Suk, M.D., J.D., MPH, MBA, FACS, FAAOS, chief physician officer, Geisinger System Services. “He brings together many voices from disparate backgrounds, finding clarity in the advocacy agenda that could span any specialty for the purpose of patient care.”
 
Through his more than 15 years as a presiding officer of policy-making assemblies on the state and national level, Gurman has helped to shape future leaders as well. He has worked with young physicians of all races, genders, and persuasions, with several of his mentees now ascending to leadership positions in the AMA, along with their state and specialty societies.
 
Gurman earned his medical degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University, Syracuse. He completed a surgical internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery at Montefiore Hospital/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and a fellowship in hand surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases Orthopaedic Institute, New York.
 
With more than 39,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world’s largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. It provides education to help orthopedic surgeons and allied health professionals best treat patients. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments, and related musculoskeletal healthcare issues, and it leads the healthcare discussion on advancing quality.