AOTrauma prides itself on being responsive to members’ needs and this requires continual assessment and re-evaluation of all offerings. As the highly popular fellowship program had been operating, unchanged, for over 40 years, the AOTrauma Education Committee (AOTEC) launched an enhancement project that would determine how it could be taken to the next level.

In demand

The program has seen a great number of surgeon participants. Since the 1970s, more than 3000 surgeons have benefited from the experience of working in a foreign surgical environment, immersing themselves in the world of AO while expanding their professional networks at more than 120 international AO Fellowship host centers. Close to 200 fellowships are facilitated by AOTrauma each year, offering the opportunity for hands-on, face-to-face learning from expert teams in the host centers.

When the AOTrauma Education Commission (AOTEC) tasked Peter Brink (chairperson of the AOT Europe Education Committee) with the evaluation of the fellowship program, three goals were defined to guide the investigation. Firstly, they wanted to see if the fellowship selection process needed attention. Secondly, the list of fellowship host centers required updating. And thirdly, a solution was needed for staying in touch with fellows once they had completed their fellowship.

Revised fellowship selection

The first big change in the new program is the shift from a centralized selection system to a system in which the regions have a decisive role. Each region, through the involvement of National Councils, Regional Boards, and the creation of a new position—the Regional Fellowship Coordinator (RFC), has been empowered to make its own decisions about the selection of fellows and their placement in the host centers.

Two fellowship categories

The successful, classical "AOTrauma Fellowship" will continue relatively unchanged, except for some new selection criteria. This fellowship lasts 4–12 weeks and can be either regional or international (meaning that the fellow goes to another of the five AOTrauma regions). This fellowship is for surgeons who are relatively new to practice. An applicant must be younger than 45 years of age. Gaining knowledge and building a network are the dual goals of this fellowship.

The "Visit the Expert" fellowship, on the other hand, is for experienced surgeons only. It is intended to last only two weeks, in which the fellow visits an eminent surgeon of their own choice to work with and learn a specific skill. This new category was developed in response to feedback from experienced surgeons who want to work closely with an expert in order to achieve a specified learning objective in a relatively short time (2-4 weeks).

Variable stipend ensures fair support

In the past, fellows received a stipend of CHF 500 per week to pay for their room and board. This stipend was the same for all fellows, regardless of the host country they visited. However, this had the effect for those fellows who visited countries with a relatively high cost of living that they were unable to cover their accommodation and food with the stipend. On the other hand, fellows going to places with comparably low prices were often comfortably off.

To ensure that in the future all fellows will be able to cover their accommodation and food out of the stipend, the Education Commission has decided to make the stipends variable, starting in 2015. They will be calculated using the World Bank’s "Purchasing Power Parity" index, with a benchmark of USD 550 per week in the USA. Fellows visiting a country with higher consumer prices than the US will receive an accordingly higher weekly stipend, while fellows going to countries with lower prices will receive less.  This system is designed to ensure that the stipend covers basic expenses, while still leaving the regions enough budget for the high number of fellowships they award.