Zimmer Biomet Funds $1.25M Grant Aimed at Optimizing Orthopedic Care

The American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) has launched a new Fellowship Education Improvement and Innovation (FEII) Grant Program, developed with a $1.25 million grant from Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc. The grant will fund Adult Reconstruction Fellowship Programs, which will be incentivized to address targeted areas of improvement, including patient optimization, high-risk/at-risk patients, diverse patient populations, site of care impact, registry-based research and advanced technologies in joint arthroplasty.
 
The grant program is intended to be flexible and Inclusive, with long-term goals to standardize curriculum, improve training and financially support adult reconstruction fellowship training nationally.
 
“AAHKS is excited to partner with our founding industry partner, Zimmer Biomet, to offer this foundational grant to Fellowship Programs that demonstrate continuous improvement in the areas of patient care, fellows’ education, research and community outreach,” AAHKS President Bryan D. Springer, M.D., said. “This partnership will allow AAHKS, the leader in Adult Reconstruction education and research, to provide the financial support for continuous growth of our established fellowship programs and a strong foundation for our new fellowship programs.”
 
The grant advances AAHKS’ commitment to education, one of the four pillars of its mission (education, advocacy, research and outreach). AAHKS oversees the Adult Reconstruction Fellowship Match, which is the largest orthopedic subspecialty fellowship program by number of fellowship positions (202 positions in 112 programs) and augmenting education of Fellows in training through its monthly webinar series. 

“Our partnership with AAHKS on the fellowship grant was founded on a shared interest in standardizing fellowship curricula to go beyond technical training to cover critical issues impacting patient outcomes and quality of care,” said Nitin Goyal, M.D., chief Science, Technology and Innovation officer at Zimmer Biomet. “Fellowship education is a key priority of Zimmer Biomet. We believe that by driving educational focus towards advanced technologies in joint replacement surgery and by supporting surgeons throughout their careers we can continue to maximize outcomes and ultimately the most optimal patient experience.”
 
The deadline to apply for the 2022-2023 fellowship training cycle is July 31. To be eligible, applicants must have a current program agreement with AAHKS as well as participate in the annual Orthopaedic Fellowship Match. Applications can be accessed here. 
 
Established in 1991, the AAHKS advances hip and knee patient care through education, advocacy, research and outreach. AAHKS has a membership of more than 4,600 surgeons and other hip and knee health care professionals.