Birth of a Specialty with Dr. Herndon

Lessons in Orthopaedic Leadership: An AOA Podcast

James Herndon, MD, MBA, FAOA shares insights from his newly published title, "Birth of a Specialty: A History of Orthopaedics at Harvard and Its Teaching Hospitals."
About Birth of a Specialty: A History of Orthopaedics at Harvard and Its Teaching Hospitals
Birth of a Specialty presents a comprehensive history of the specialty focused on US contributions and including the orthopaedic surgeons at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and its major teaching hospitals.

Volume 1 addresses the early surgical landscape, the development of the specialization of orthopaedics, and the history of orthopaedics at HMS. The history of HMS discusses the creation of the orthopaedic department, curriculum, and residency program, the emergence of sports medicine, as well as the infamous murder of Dr. George Parkman at the school in 1849 and contributions by surgeons to the case.

Volumes 2, 3 and 4, present the history of orthopaedics at each of Harvard’s teaching hospitals; with volume 2 focused on Boston Children’s Hospital, volume 3 on Massachusetts General Hospital, and volume 4 on Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston City Hospital.

Each hospital section begins by discussing the origins of the institution; the evolution of orthopaedic department status at each hospital; the contributions of many great orthopaedic surgeons; and the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first century, including recruitment of orthopaedic chairpersons at each of the hospitals. It ends with a discussion of the role of Harvard orthopaedic surgeons in the world wars.

About James Herndon, MD, MBA, FAOA
James H. Herndon, MD, MBA, FAOA is the William H. & Johanna A. Harris Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital; and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Partners Healthcare System (Mass General Brigham), Boston. He has long been a leader in orthopaedics, chairing departments of orthopaedic surgery at Brown University/Rhode Island Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and Medical Center (UPMC). He also served as vice president of medical services at UPMC and as associate senior vice chancellor for the health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.

He has influenced the direction of orthopaedics through leadership positions with national organizations such as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), the American Orthopaedic Association, the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, and the Academic Orthopaedic Society.

More information can be found here.

**The AOA thanks Peter E. Randall Publisher for its generous support of this episode.**