Report of the 1995 ABC Traveling Fellows

In all, the seven Fellows (Fig.2) gave forty-eight formal presentations during the course of the tour. In four weeks of touring the United Kingdom, we gave eighteen talks (4.5 per week). but in Australia we gave fifteen talks in nine days (11.5 per week) and in New Zealand we gave fifteen in five days (21.0 per week) (p < 0.00l). The most frequently addressed topics during our tour of the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand included unicondylar knee replacements, the overuse of prophylaxis against deep venous thrombosis during orthopaedic procedures, particle disease related to total joint arthroplasty, proprioceptive function of the anterior cruciate ligament, flap coverage in lower extremity orthopaedics, obstetrical brachial palsies, and impaction grafting for revision total hip arthroplasty. In the end, we mailed 772 postcards home. Hence, we returned to seven happy and infinitely supportive wives and 17.6 happy and well adjusted children. We wrote 271 thank-you letters. We did not lose any weight, but we did not gain much either, and while no one developed any stress fractures from excessive running¹, no one developed jaundice either².

The American-British-Canadian Traveling Fellowship is generously supported by the memberships of the English-speaking orthopaedic associations: The American Orthopaedic Association, The Australian Orthopaedic Association, The British Orthopaedic Association, the South African Orthopaedic Association, and the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association as well as the British volume of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. In return for this support, the ABC Fellows, worldwide, have sought to share the insights and experiences drawn from this exchange with their colleagues and pupils and have committed themselves to the responsibilities of education and leadership in their respective institutions and their organizations. The relationships and camaraderie engendered by this special experience have enriched the orthopaedic community as a whole and continue to benefit academic and clinical orthopaedics far beyond the benefits experienced by the individual fellows. We, the members of the 1995 Traveling Fellowship, feel both honored and fortunate to have been chosen for this extraordinary experience, and we pledge our support to the continuing tradition of the American-British-Canadian Traveling Fellowship.

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