BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Name: James H. Herndon, MD
Education:
1961 BS Biology
1965 MD
1979 MA, ad eundum
1990 MBA, Health Care Management
1998 MA, Honoris Causa
2002 Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa
2004 Honorary Fellow
Loyola University, Los Angeles
University of California/Los Angeles
Brown University
Boston University
Harvard University
Loyola Marymount University
Royal College Surgeons (England)
Post-Doctoral Training:
1965-1966
Rotating Intern
1966-1967
PGY-2 General Surgery
1967-1970
Assistant Resident and Resident
1970
Chief Resident Orthopaedic Surg.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency
Massachusetts General Hospital
Military Service:
1971-1973
Major, United States Army
Chief, Amputee Service
Valley Forge General Hospital
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Fellowship:
1973-1974
Fellow, Reconstructive Hand Surg. Roosevelt Hospital, New York
J. William Littler, MD, Chief
Academic Appointments:
1974-1977
Assistant Clinical Professor of
Orthopaedic Surgery
1977-1978
Associate Clinical Professor of
Orthopaedic Surgery
1978-1988
Professor and Chairman
Department of Orthopaedics
1988-1998
David Silver Professor & Chairman
Department of Orthopaedic Surg.
1995-1998
Associate Senior Vice Chancellor
for the Health Sciences
1995-1998
Vice President, Medical Services
1998-2004
Partners HealthCare Professor
and Chair of Partners Dept. of
Orthopaedic Surgery
2004Emeritus, Chair of Partners Dept.
of Orthopaedic Surgery
2001-
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William H. and Johanna A. Harris
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Brown University Program in Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts
General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s
Hospital
Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts
General Hospital and Brigham & Women’s
Hospital
Harvard Medical School
Herndon, James H.
Teaching Experience:
I have been department chairman and residency program director for over 26 years: Ten years at Brown
University and Rhode Island Hospital; ten years at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; and six years at
Partners HealthCare System (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) and
Harvard Medical School. After retiring as Partners Department Chair in 2004 I have continued as Program
Director for the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program. I have also served as Fellowship Director
for Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 1994-1998. As
Program Director of these three residencies I have participated and/or chaired the core curriculum, grand
rounds, regular M&M conferences, and specific specialty conferences. I have taught medical students at Brown
University and at the University of Pittsburgh with orthopaedic lectures to the second year students and lectures
on the musculoskeletal system to the primary care residents. At Brown, Pittsburgh and Harvard Medical School
I have taught the third and fourth year students on their orthopaedic surgery clerkships. At the University of
Pittsburgh I also taught the first year medical students during their organ block on the musculoskeletal system.
Pittsburgh’s curriculum was a problem-based learning program. The musculoskeletal block was taught
cooperatively with orthopaedic surgery, radiology, rheumatology and pathology. Also at Brown and the
University of Pittsburgh I routinely lectured to the physical therapists and occupational therapists and their
students. Since arriving at Harvard, I have participated in the design and launch of a new core conference series
in musculoskeletal care for third year medical students on their surgical clerkship. This conference is based on
individual cases prepared by the faculty and supplemented with films, patient models and other information. I
also serve as an examiner at the completion of the medical student’s Doctor-Patient II course. I have been an
invited guest lecturer at Grand Rounds and special lectures at more than 123 national and international medical
schools and teaching hospitals. I have given over 23 named lectureships and four presidential guest lectures at
national and international meetings. I was honored by being asked to give the Shands Lecture to the English
Speaking Orthopaedic Societies at their international meeting (held every six years) in 1998 in Auckland, New
Zealand. I was the keynote speaker at the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Alumni Association for the Class
of 1993 at the Parent’s-Spouse Day (1990) and gave the commencement address to Loyola Marymount
University in 2002.
Advising and Mentoring Roles:
I have served as an advisor and mentor to graduating medical students entering orthopaedics at Brown,
University of Pittsburgh and Harvard Medical Schools. I meet individually with each student who is entering
orthopaedics, giving them advice and usually writing a letter of support. I also meet with all the students
together at least once in the Fall to discuss the match process, interviewing techniques and how to be successful
in obtaining an orthopaedic residency. In addition, I have been a mentor to numerous residents and fellows
through my 32 years in academic practice as well as clinical and research faculty and post-doctoral students in
our laboratories. I was an active member of the Post-Graduate Referral Committee at Brown University. At the
university of Pittsburgh Medical Center I was a mentor for the Research Training and Engineering and Rehab
Technology graduate students that was funded by the U.S. Department of Education (1993-98). While at the
University of Pittsburgh I served as a mentor for the MHA Healthcare Management and Policy Program. At
Harvard Medical School I am a mentor for students in the Peabody Society and the Holmes Society. I have
established a mentoring program for the Harvard orthopaedic residents. I am a mentor for young members of
the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (Leadership Fellowship Program) and for potential members
of the American Orthopaedic Association.
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Herndon, James H.
Teaching Awards and/or Nominations:
I received the Golden Apple Award from the Orthopaedic residents at the University of Pittsburgh School of
Medicine in 1990. I was an honoree at the Honors Convocation at the University of Pittsburgh in 1988, 1991,
1992 and 1993. I was nominated for the President’s Distinguished Teacher Award at the University of
Pittsburgh in 1995. In 2004 the orthopaedic residence dedicated the Orthopaedic Journal at Harvard Medical
School to me. I have received two “Partners in Excellence” Awards.
Leadership Roles:
I served on the Curriculum Planning Committee and was Chairman of the Subcommittee on Clinical Clerkship
Requirements at Brown University. I served on the Telemedicine Committee at the University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine. I also serve on the Surgical Clerkship Committee at Harvard Medical School and an ad hoc
committee on musculoskeletal education. In the AAMC I was a member of the Flexner Award Selection
Committee and was also an active member of the Council of Academic Societies for three years. In the
Academic Orthopaedic Society, also formerly known as the Orthopaedic Chairman’s Association, I served on
the Graduate Education Committee and was the AOS President in 1990. In professional societies I served on the
American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery for ten years and was its President in 1991. I served as Chair of the
CAQ in Hand Surgery for two years. I served on the Residency Review Committee in Orthopaedic Surgery for
six years and was Chairman in 1991-1993 and have been a site visitor since. In the American Society for
Surgery of the Hand I served as Chair of the Primary Care Education Committee and was a member of the
Program Committee for the Annual Meeting and the Finance Committee. I have served as Course Chairman on
20 national and international meetings, including a comprehensive review course in orthopaedic surgery for the
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and I chaired a course for Management Leadership Skills for
Chairman and a course on advances in orthopaedic surgery. For the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons I have served on the Committee for Graduate Medical Education, the Committee on Educational
Content and the Coordinating Committee on Education. I served on a task force for the Summer Institute and I
have also been an active member on the Council of Education. I also served on a task force for musculoskeletal
education for medical students. Additionally at the national level I have been President of the American
Orthopaedic Association, and Treasurer and President of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Currently, I am a member of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Board of Trustees and serve as Treasurer.
New Courses/Curricular Innovations
At the University of Pittsburgh I was responsible, with rheumatology, in establishing an organ-based course on
the musculoskeletal system for first year medical students in collaboration with radiology and pathology. This is
an 8-week course teaching medical students basic science and clinical science of the musculoskeletal system. I
established a psychomotor skills lab for residents at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and supported
one at the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program. These labs utilize plastic models for gaining
skills in arthroscopic and minimally invasive surgery. Our program also joint ventures with industry and utilizes
Smith and Nephew’s major education facility for teaching our residents arthroscopic skills of the shoulder and
knee as well as other joints with cadavers. I developed and served as Chairman for a series of educational
courses on hand injuries for primary care physicians for the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. These
were regional meetings held throughout the United States. I also co-developed the first comprehensive review
course for orthopaedic surgeons which remains a national course of the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons held yearly since 1983.
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Herndon, James H.
Educational Material Developed:
I have co-authored a book entitled “A Clinical Curriculum for Orthopaedic Surgery” with Neil Green, MD,
which has been a national resource for orthopaedic residencies. I published, with Ed Riseborough, MD, a book
entitled “Scoliosis and Other Deformities of the Axial Skeleton”. In addition, I have published a book entitled
“Scaphoid Fractures and Complex Complications” and recently a textbook entitled “Surgical Reconstruction of
the Upper Extremity”. Our American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has an Orthopaedic Knowledge
Update series, which is published every three years reviewing orthopaedic surgery for the practicing
orthopaedist – I have been editor of sections of this series in both 1990 and 1993.
Faculty Development:
I have developed two programs for management and leadership skills required of an orthopaedic chairman. The
first was a national course held in Dallas; the second a yearly seminar for new chairmen held at the annual
meeting of the Association of Orthopaedic Chairmen or the Academic Orthopaedic Society. I was the sole
instructor in this course for six years.
Educational Grants:
Champlin Foundation Educational Grant for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brown University $200,000 in 1982. Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation Grant for Teaching Conference
Development at Brown University - $10,000 in 1985.
Articles Published Related to Medical Education:
“New Challenges and Next Steps in Physician Patient Communication” with Karla Pollick, Journal of Bone and
Joint Surgery
“Developing Managers and Leaders in Orthopaedics” Orthopaedics, January 14-15, 1991.
“The Advantages of Fellowships in Orthopaedic Surgery” Resident and Staff Physician, 4:12, 1994.
Multiple editorials in the AAOS Bulletin and review articles on patient safety / medical errors.
Research:
I have published over 250 articles, book chapters, reviews and editorials. Research activities in my early career
focused on the adult respiratory distress syndrome (fat embolism syndrome), fat embolism in total hip
replacement, management of war injured amputees, scoliosis, injuries and arthritis of the upper extremity.
Research activities in my latter career continued with injuries and arthritis of the upper extremity, the role of the
interosseous ligament of the forearm and gene therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. For the last five years I have
been focused on medical errors and patient safety.
Honorary Memberships:
I have been elected to honorary membership in the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and the Association
of Bone and Joint Surgeons, the Hellenic Society for Surgery of the Hand, the Hellenic Society for
Reconstructive Microsurgery, the Romanian Society for Surgery of the Hand, the Brazilian Society of
Orthopaedics and Traumatology, and the Hellenic Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology.
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Herndon, James H.