The Japanese Orthopaedic Association sponsors three-week tours.

  • Even Year Tours: US Fellows visit top Japanese academic centers and historical landmarks for the JOA Traveling Fellowship.
  • Odd Year Tours: Japanese Fellows are hosted by US orthopaedic surgeons. The tour begins or ends at the AOA Annual Meeting, depending on the year.

Upcoming Tour Information

Applications for the 2026 JOA Traveling Fellowship are now open!

Eligibility & Criteria

Applicant Criteria

  • Less than or equal to 8 years in practice
  • ABOS certified
  • A Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
  • Qualified to practice orthopaedic surgery in the United States; must be a United States citizen OR a Permanent Resident with a full time position at a hospital/institution in the United States.
  • Available to travel to Japan the spring of 2026
  • Able to attend the 2027 AOA Annual Leadership Meeting.
  • Must be an active AOA Member or Emerging Leader

Lengthy episodes of time away from practice (>6 months) may be noted by applicants and will be reviewed and given consideration by the selection committee on a case by case basis. This includes but is not exhaustive of illness, family/medical leave, maternity/paternity leave, military deployment, etc.

Ineligible

Alumni of the American-British-Canadian (ABC) Traveling Fellowship and the North American Traveling Fellowship are ineligible for consideration.

Hosting

JOA hosts are encouraged to use their creativity to plan a unique and exciting experience that will allow the visiting fellows to grow in their leadership skills, research, and career goals. Hosts may also take advantage of any unique environments that they may have either academically or historically.

Host Responsibilities

Hosts will be asked to:

  • Identify a key contact person at the host institution for the AOA
  • Coordinate academic, leadership and social programs
  • Send the AOA a finalized, detailed itinerary six weeks prior to the tour
  • Meet the JOA Fellows when they arrive in the local area.  If the fellows fly in/out of the region, fellows must be transported to/from the airport to the designated hotel or meeting location
  • Provide housing, meals and ground transportation for the JOA Fellows, as well as covering the costs for these arrangements

Group Hosting

The Traveling Fellowship Subcommittee also encourages members to “group host,” with several institutions in one area sharing the hosting duties and costs, thus adding to the diversity of the tour.

Become a JOA Host

If you are interested in hosting future JOA Fellows, please contact fellowships@aoassn.org.

Application

Applications for the 2026 JOA Traveling Fellowship are now open. Click here to Apply

Learn More

Learn more about the AOA-JOA tour through the experience of past JOA fellows. Visit the AOA Traveling Fellowships Blog.

JOA Alumni

Name Year
Joshua A. Parry, MD 2024
Kelly K. Hynes, MD, FRCSC, FAAOS, FAOA 2024
Byron Fitzgerald Stephens, II, MD, FAOA 2024
Lucas S. McDonald, MD, FAAOS, FAOA 2024
Joseph H. Schwab, MD, FAAOS, FAOA 2024
Tessa Balach, MD, FAOA 2020
Jean-Claude G. D’Alleyrand, MD, MSE, FAOA 2020
Shen-Ying (Richard) Ma, MD, FAOA 2020
John Alan Scolaro, MD, FAOA 2020
Joshua L. Gary, MD, FAOA 2018
Atul F. Kamath, MD 2018
Chadi Tannoury, MD, FAOA 2018
Conor Kleweno, MD 2018
Samuel K. Cho, MD 2016
Brett A. Freedman, MD 2016
Sumon Nandi, MD 2016
Reza Firoozabadi 2016
Dan A. Zlotolow, MD 2014
Wakenda K. Tyler, MD, MPH 2014
Leo T. Kroonen, MD 2014
Hassan R. Mir, MD, MBA, FACS 2014
Ahmad N. Nassr, MD 2012
Eric O. Klineberg, MD 2012
Jordan L. Smith, MD 2012
John G. Costouros, MD, FACS 2012
G. Russell Huffman, MD, MPH 2010
Ivan Cheng, MD 2010
Alpesh A. Patel, MD 2010
Jeffrey Yao, MD 2010
Daniel J. Solomon, MD 2008
Julian McClees Aldridge, III, MD 2008
Nitin Bhatia, MD 2008
Rena L. Stewart, MD, 2006
Scott Duncan, MD, MPH, MBA 2006
Michael P. Bolognesi, MD 2006
Eric P. Hofmeister, MD 2006
Hubert T. Kim, MD, PhD 2004
Twee T. Do, MD 2004
Louis G. Jenis, MD 2004
Brian C. Toolan, MD 2002
James J. McCarthy, MD 2002
Brian J. McGrory, MD 2002
Craig S. Roberts, MD, MBA 2000
Earl W. Brien, MD 2000
Stephen M. Topper, MD 2000
Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD 2000
Jon R. Davids, MD 1998
Steven A. Olson, MD 1998
Richard Iorio, MD 1998
Robert C. Schenck, Jr., MD 1998
John G. Heller, MD 1996
Edward Diao, MD 1996
David F. Martin, MD 1996
Randall T. Loder, MD 1994
Harold B. Kitaoka, MD 1994
Bruce J. Sangeorzan, MD 1994
John H. Healey, MD 1992
Robert M. Szabo, MD, MPH 1992
Michael J. Botte, MD 1992
William L. Healy, MD 1992

Questions?

Please e-mail fellowships@aoassn.org.