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The concept of the American, British, Canadian (ABC) Exchange Fellowship was developed in 1948 by Robert I. Harris of Toronto, Canada, during his presidency of The American Orthopaedic Association. Dr. Harris believed that because of World War II and the accompanying post-war difficulties, young orthopaedic surgeons of Great Britain would find it difficult, if not impossible, to visit orthopaedic centers in the United States and Canada. Dr. Harris stated “There was a danger that they would reach senior positions in England with little knowledge of the state of orthopaedic surgery in North America.” It was for that reason Dr. Harris proposed the 1948 meeting in Quebec City be a joint British-Canadian-American Meeting. Thirteen British Orthopaedic Surgeons were brought over to attend the joint meeting and to travel throughout the United States and Canada. The thirteen original traveling fellows were: J. Crawford Adams, Esq., J. Charnley, Esq., F.C. Durbin, Esq., James S. Ellis, Esq., T. John Fairbank, Esq., C. Langton, Esq., Philip H. Newman, Esq., J. Patrick, Esq., Miss Marion A. Pearson, I.S. Smillie, Esq., Edgar Somerville, Esq., Frederick G. St. Clair Strange, Esq., and James Wishart, Esq. Today, the ABC Fellowship remains the most prominent traveling fellowship in orthopaedics and serves to identify the future leaders of the specialty and acts as a catalyst to accelerate their careers.
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