The 2015 International Scholarship Alumni Meeting was well attended: we were happy to meet scholarship Alumni, AAOS International Committee members, and also contributors and mentors of the scholarship programs.
The International Committee Chairman
welcomed the
participants and thanked all those who have supported the international
scholarship programs, including the Alumni who made financial contributions to
the program. Participants split into four groups to discuss the topic of the meeting: “How have I applied my scholarship experience in my daily practice/case management or professional/ leadership development?”
All Alumni agreed that the scholarship
experience greatly and positively impacted their career tracks and helped
develop and apply the many useful skills, including:
- Teaching residents/students and sharing knowledge with peers. Being taught in the surgical skills course and mentored during the observership helped understand “best practices” in teaching. Attendees reported they were trying to establish fellowships in their selected specialties upon return home.
- Surgical and rehabilitation. New skills were acquired and shared with peers resulting in a greater scope of surgeries available for the patients in their home countries/hospitals and a shorter time spent in the hospital post-operatively.
- Organization and leadership. Scholarship experience provided confidence, prestige and stimulus for further professional development and for higher positions within the hospital and/or national orthopaedic organization. Six of scholarship recipients became presidents of their national orthopaedic associations; many of the recipients became heads of the orthopaedic departments; and one scholarship recipient became Minister of Health in his country.
