History

IGOT is a non-profit program started by the faculty and residents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in 2006.

IGOT is uniquely based upon the need to create an infrastructure that addresses in a sustainable way the enormous and increasingly disparate global healthcare for musculoskeletal and traumatic injuries and disorders.

In 2006, Drs. Richard Gosselin, Richard Coughlin, and Harry Jergesen, orthopaedic surgeons with extensive academic, clinical, and educational experience, sought to form an initiative that would be embedded within the growing enthusiasm for global health at UCSF, especially with its burgeoning Global Health Sciences program. Many meetings took place to work on the most effective placement, structure, goals, and strategy for this initiative entitled the Institute for Global Orthopaedics and Traumatology (IGOT).

IGOT would be appropriately housed at San Francisco General Hospital, an institution well known for its innovation and advocacy for the care of the vulnerable and disadvantaged. Further, IGOT would exist within the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCSF, providing the platform and infrastructure to the shared vision of the department’s leadership role globally, first from Interim Chairman Dr. Ted Miclau and then strong endorsement from new Chairman Dr. Tad Vail. Funding from the department at UCSF and the division at SFGH provided the initial “war chest” and IGOT was truly in business.

IGOT has grown on the strength and passion of its residents and medical students. UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery had already been recognized for its International Orthopaedic Health Elective since 1999 sending senior residents primarily to South Africa in conjunction and in partnership with Orthopaedics Overseas and Bedford Orthopaedic Centre, founded by Dr. Chris McConnachie, provided the early experience and passion for the development of improved care for the disadvantaged in resource-poor section of the Eastern Cape. Dr. McConnachie, who died in 2007, was awarded the Order of British Empire for his humanitarian legacy and is a continued inspiration to the members and mission of IGOT.

With the goal of empowering and strengthening academic orthopaedic departments in developing countries, IGOT’s focus is on academic to academic partnering to build the infrastructure that will allow each country to build its own capacity to care for its own needs and answer its own clinical and policy questions. In this regard, IGOT has supported orthopaedic residents’ research projects in Uganda and funded visiting professorships for African academic leaders to UCSF and the AAOS Educators Course. When the question of surgical impact of Chronic Osteomyelitis was suggested, IGOT has supported the first extensive research of this burden in Uganda. Further, IGOT has been well positioned to provide consultancy whether to orthopaedic resident training in Nicaragua or cost-effectiveness of programs through Dr. Gosselin’s expertise.

IGOT believes in the essential need for partnerships and synergy and has worked in synchrony with Orthopaedics Overseas, Operation Rainbow, Global Health Sciences and Institutes for Global Health at UCSF, and SIGN.

IGOT has inspired many residents and medical students to continue this work and attracted many from across the country to join this worthy and necessary endeavor, to lessen the burden of musculoskeletal disease and trauma.