The Austrian Swiss German (ASG) Fellowship 2024

Daniel Burchette

The ASG fellowship 2024 saw the 13th Class of Anglo-American ASG Fellows touring some prominent orthopaedic departments within German speaking countries, and the first group offered this opportunity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a several year hiatus.

The fellowship group consisted of two fellows from the USA selected by the American Orthopaedic Association; Professor Deanna Mercer from the University of New Mexico in Albequerque, and Professor Nicholas Noiseux, Vice Chair of Orthopaedics and revision arthroplasty surgeon at the University Hospital of Iowa, together with myself, a locum consultant at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospitals, as the UK representative.

Over 28 days we were hosted across institutions in ten cities across Austria, Switzerland and Germany. At each institution, we had the opportunity to visit the operating theatres, interact in lively discussions with the local hosts and partake in a rigorous programme of academic symposia. On our whistlestop tour we visited Homburg (Saar), Hamburg, Berlin, Magdeburg, Cologne, Bonn, Vienna, Krems, St. Gallen and Zürich, experiencing exceptional hospitality.

The academic programme was interspersed with memorable social activities including an outing to France, a harbour boat tour, an insightful walking tour of Berlin, a Bundesliga football match, two trips to the opera, an exceptional after-dark tour of Cologne Cathedral, Vienna’s incredible Schönbrunn Palace and a trip to the mountains of Switzerland, amongst many other highlights!

The fellowship culminated in Baden-Baden at the Annual Meeting of the Association of South German Orthopaedists and Trauma Surgeons (VSOU). Following a special ASG edition session at the Conference, we attended the annual ASG Society Asparagus lunch where we were awarded our society ties and scarves.

The tour highlighted to us many of the parallels between Anglo and Germanic orthopaedic practices as well as highlighting key differences. The substantial integration between academic research and clinical practice was an intriguing element of the practice and the cost-pressures we face in the NHS were certainly less pervasive. Our varying approaches to arthroplasty rehabilitation and day-case surgery were regularly debated throughout our trip and in most cases, we are unlikely to reach consensus soon!

I would like to extend my gratitude to Nick and Deanna for their entertaining company and to all of our exceptionally generous local hosts, whom I look forward to seeing at future ASG events. I would like to thank the BOA for giving me this opportunity and most of all my wife, Dr Jean Chan and our children, for allowing me to disappear for a month on yet another travelling fellowship.