Dr. Peace Ifeoma Amaraegbulam, 2015 AAOS International Scholarship recipient

I was excited when I woke up on 5^th November, 2014, just a week to my birthday and read the Congratulatory mail from AAOS, informing me that I had been selected for the 2015 International Surgical Skills Scholarship of the Academy. It was the best birthday package I could hope for, in that year!

Finally, it was September and I arrived at the OLC for the said course.

There was a meeting with the AAOS staff on Thursday afternoon. There, I met the smiling faces of the staff present, as well as two other recipients, Drs Al-Hilli and de Dilogo from Iraq and Indonesia respectively. I made a presentation about myself and my practice back home, as required.

Later in the evening of the same day, the AAOS- OTA Course on Pelvic and Acetabular Fractures commenced. It was very well organized and I learnt a lot which considerably reduced the grey areas I had in Pelvic reconstruction. The cadaver sessions were worth every minute spent, with a table instructor like Dr Michael Weaver who willingly and effortlessly shared his experiences and answered every question cheerfully. The course Chairman, Dr Matthew Jimenez was also amazing. He presented some educational materials, as gifts, to me and the other scholars present. These materials included the DVD on ‘Selected Exposures in Orthopaedic Surgery, The Pelvis’, edited by John T Gorczyca, MD. 

Sunday had me travel to New York where I was supposed to have a week observership under Dr. Joshua Hyman, a foremost paediatric orthopaedist at the Columbia University Medical Center. However, the week ended with the birth of a new mentor-mentee relationship. Beyond the scalpel and the OR, I could appreciate why Dr Hyman was voted New York’s best. I left with some ideas on how I could do much more for my patients, even with few resources and a new horizon on pursuing my passion.

To me, this experience was not just a dream-come-true, it is also a motivation for more dreams. I am grateful to Dr Adeoye Adetiloye for being an encouragement, the AAOS for the wonderful opportunity at learning and skills improvement, to SICOT USA, my proud sponsors and to Dr Joshua Hyman for offering his shoulders so I can soar in my future walk.