John A. Feagin, Jr. Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship
Mission:
To develop an expert in the field devoted to improving care of soldiers, innovation in improving rehabilitative and surgical care, and commitment to research. Fellowship graduates train orthopaedic residents at various military medical centers or are assigned to one of several Army Medical Facilities with large troop concentrations.
Vision:
To be recognized as the world-class, center of excellence in orthopaedic sports medicine; and to educate and train orthopaedic residents at various military medical centers or those assigned to one of several Army Medical Facilities with large troop concentrations.
The Program:
The John A. Feagin, Jr. Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship Program at West Point is the only Dept. of Defense Orthopaedic Sports Medicine Fellowship and is partnered with the Orthopaedic Residency Program at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. Annually, two active duty Fellows are trained here at West Point in the full spectrum of Orthopaedic Sports Medicine in preparation for future service to the entire Dept. of Defense community. Additionally, the fellows serve as team physicians for Army West Point athletics, which includes 28 NCAA Division 1 athletic teams.
The program is one of only two accredited orthopaedic fellowships in the U.S. Army. Applicants must have graduated from an accredited Orthopaedic Residency program and be American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) Board eligible or certified. Applicants must be citizens of the United States and willing to serve on active duty in the military. Graduates from the fellowship incur a Military Service obligation of two years. Fellows are eligible to join the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) as candidate members during their training and become full members once they graduate. Graduates are also eligible to sit for the new Sports Medicine Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) which is overseen by the ABOS.
The relationship with the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), the top hospital in the country for orthopaedic surgery, has allowed our clinical fellows to conduct rotations on the Sports Medicine Service at HSS. This is always a highlight of the clinical year for our graduates. This relationship is now formalized as HSS is our sponsoring institution for ACGME. Furthermore, we continue to grow our collaboration with HSS, under the leadership of Dr. Anil Ranawat and Dr. Bryan Kelly.
The fellowship includes a 3-month rotation at the Hospital for Special Surgery with a NYC apartment and 1-week rotation with Dr. Gregory Fanelli performing multi-ligamentous knee surgery and wet-labs; a 2-week rotation at another sports medicine center of excellence; and an annual Northeast Fellows’ Sports Medicine Symposium featuring scientific presentations from Northeast Regional Sports Medicine Fellowship programs.
The fellowship has been responsible for more than 300 national and international presentations, 150 scientific publications and 50 chapters. The fellowship culminates a long education process of orthopaedic surgery training and one year of intensive exposure in complex joint injuries (ligament & cartilage) at Keller Army Community Hospital (West Point, NY).
In addition to graduating from the fellowship program, both Soldiers received the Army Commendation Medal for outstanding service. Their knowledge, initiative, and persistence were instrumental in furthering the research and clinical educational efforts of the fellowship program. Their efforts enhanced research for the Soldier and reflect great credit upon them, the Army Medical department and the U.S. Army.
The History of the Program:
The idea of a Sports Medicine fellowship started with Dr. John Feagin, team physician and Chief of Orthopaedics in 1970, who recognized the enormous volume of soft tissue injuries in cadets, due to the physical demands of the curriculum. The idea continued to be nurtured with successive orthopaedists, Dr. Bob Protzman and Dr. Walt Curl, in the mid-to-late 70’s. Clinical research was done by the Keller Orthopaedic staff, and slowly West Point began to develop a name within the U.S. Orthopaedic Community for having expertise in Sports Medicine.
In 1985-86, COL Jack Ryan designed and implemented the U.S. Army Joint & Soft Tissue Trauma Fellowship. The fellowship was initially divided into two years. The first year was the basic science year conducted at Letterman Army Institute of Research (LAIR) San Francisco, CA, and the second was the clinical year conducted at Keller Army Community Hospital (KACH), West Point, New York. The first fellow began training in 1988 and arrived at West Point in 1989. The research program moved from LAIR in 1994 to the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, TX.
On October 8, 2004, the fellowship program was renamed from the U.S. Army Joint and Soft Tissue Trauma Fellowship to the John A. Feagin, Jr. Sports Medicine Fellowship in honor of COL (R) John A. Feagin, Jr., MC. In December 2006, with the approval from Graduate Medical Education of the Army Command, the John A. Feagin, Jr. Sports Medicine Fellowship implemented training of an additional fellow for a one-year clinical rotation at KACH. Beginning in July 2007, two fellows would undergo the clinical year training at KACH combined with a clinical research experience.
Accreditation:
The Fellowship is recognized as fully accredited by the American Council of Graduate Medical Education, the Residency Review Committee, and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.