Aravind Athiviraham, M.D.’s AANA Traveling Fellowship: A Fortunate Experience

A memorable and fantastic experience, both inside and outside the operating room. That’s how Aravind Athiviraham, M.D., would describe his AANA Traveling Fellowship journey that he embarked on this past April.

Dr. Athiviraham felt the days he spent inside the operating room were great successes through all the new arthroscopic skills and techniques he learned from each of his site hosts. This started with Larry Field, M.D., the Traveling Fellows’ host at the first site visit at the Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Jackson, Mississippi and now the current AANA President.

“I was immediately very impressed with the surgical expertise and efficiency he displayed in the operating room,” Dr. Athiviraham recalls. “Dr. Field was able to perform two massive rotator cuff repairs, two instability cases with Bankart repair and remplissage and an arthroscopic tennis elbow procedure – procedures that would take most of us a full day to accomplish – all completed successfully before lunch with time to spare! He was then able to go on and see 40 patients in clinic later that afternoon.”

This was no different during the second site visit at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Athiviraham admired Brian Waterman, M.D., who was an AANA Traveling Fellow in 2014.

“It was really amazing to see what a great teacher Dr. Waterman was, both inside and outside the operating room and his incredible level of involvement with AANA and other orthopaedic societies,” Dr. Athiviraham remarks. “It was very helpful for me and my career as an Orthopaedic Surgeon to meet him and learn from him.”

He also fondly recalls being greeted by their third site host Kevin Farmer, M.D., who also happens to be a previous AANA Traveling Fellow, at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. He admired the skill and stamina Dr. Farmer displayed when expertly performing two ACL reconstructions immediately followed by a rotator cuff repair in the lateral position.

But Dr. Athiviraham‘s fortunate experiences extended beyond the operating room. He quickly developed a small “winning streak” during some of the friendly competitions that took place during the journey, including a two-on-two basketball game between the Traveling Fellows and a croquet tournament. The latter was hosted by the very generous Gary Poheling, M.D., Chairman Emeritus at Wake Forest and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Arthroscopy. The tournament involved the Traveling Fellows and their Godfather John Richmond, M.D., Wake Forest Orthopedic Faculty, including John Hubbard, M.D. who was teamed up with Dr. Athiviraham, and Wake Forest orthopedic residents and sports fellows.

“It was an enjoyable experience, considering I’ve never seen or played croquet before,” Dr. Athiviraham admits. “But it was a unique opportunity for camaraderie and collegiality. What really ended up shaping my Traveling Fellowship experience were all the opportunities I had to connect with peers and mentors in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.”

In addition to the outstanding experiences Dr. Athiviraham had while on the Traveling Fellowship, he says that if it were not for this journey, he would not have had the opportunity to cultivate individual friendships with his co-Traveling Fellows and Dr. Richmond.

“I’m very appreciative to AANA for this opportunity of a lifetime for being able to learn so much on this journey, both personally and professionally,” Dr. Athiviraham remarks.