Congratulations to Dr. John Fowler, Associate Professor of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Assistant Dean for Medical Student Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Sterling Bunnell Travelling Fellowship. Dr. Fowler earned his MD and completed his Orthopedic Surgery residency training at Temple University School of Medicine before coming to UPMC for Hand and Upper Extremity fellowship training. A Pittsburgh native, Dr. Fowler, along with his wife Amy and three children, calls this city home once again since joining the UPMC Department of Orthopedic Surgery’s Division of Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery in 2013. This prestigious award, which was established in 1981, has been granted to one young hand surgeon every year to support academic endeavors and foster domestic and international collaboration. Dr. Sterling Bunnell, who founded the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in 1946, began his interest in restoring function of injured hands during his time serving as a surgeon in the first World War. After the war, his interests pushed him to address unanswered questions in tendon repair, nerve grafting, club hand, and pollicization, which established him as a leader in the field. When World War II began, he saw the rising need for hand and upper extremity specialists. Between 1944 and 1947, he himself became a travelling fellow to train the first generation of hand surgeons. This Travelling Fellowship Award is granted in honor of Dr. Bunnell, who many consider to be the founding father of Hand surgery.
Dr. Fowler is exceptionally qualified to take full advantage of the Sterling Bunnell Travelling Fellowship. Since finishing his hand fellowship here at UPMC and joining our faculty, he has pursued a focused research interest with unyielding dedication. Dr. Fowler has had his sights on improving the methods of diagnosing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome since early in his career. He was unsatisfied with the status quo and looked for ways to improve not just outcomes, but patient experiences. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is traditionally diagnosed with nerve conduction studies and electromyography, procedures which are time consuming for both patients and providers, costly, and physically uncomfortable. Dr. Fowler aimed to show that ultrasonography could significantly improve upon these shortcomings. He took it upon himself to purchase an ultrasound machine and collect data on patients with and without Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Since beginning this endeavor, Dr. Fowler has validated ultrasound as a diagnostic tool for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and he has demonstrated improved specificity and equal sensitivity of ultrasound when compared to electrodiagnostic testing. Furthermore, he has demonstrated a role for ultrasound in grading injury severity. On top of these benefits, he has also demonstrated ultrasound to be more cost-effective than electrodiagnostic testing. Through his disciplined approach to his research, Dr. Fowler has shown that ultrasound has the potential to be faster, cheaper, and more accurate in diagnosis, while also being more comfortable for the patient. In addition to his primary research goals, Dr. Fowler serves as a mentor to Orthopedic trainees at all levels. He was appointed to serve as the Assistant Dean of Medical Student Research at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine due to his years directing inter-disciplinary medical student longitudinal research projects, and was selected by the medical students to receive the 2020 Excellence in Medical Student Research Mentoring Award. He has mentored numerous resident projects, including studies on post-operative pain, scapholunate collapse, and cost analyses, just to name a few. He also serves as a mentor to the fellows as the Director of Research for the University of Pittsburgh Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship Program. Through his research pursuits and his role as a mentor, Dr. Fowler exemplifies the spirit of Dr. Sterling Bunnell. It is clear to see why he was the perfect choice to receive this year’s Travelling Fellowship Award.
In receiving this award, Dr. Fowler will have the opportunity to refine ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool and will be poised to shift the paradigm in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. He will join a circle of distinguished surgeons, which includes some of our faculty here at UPMC. In 2002, Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, Division Chief of Plastic Surgery at UPMC, was awarded the Sterling Bunnell Travelling Fellowship, and in 2011 it was awarded to Dr. Charles S. Day, who completed his residency and fellowship here at UPMC. Dr. Fowler has and continues to pursue ways to add value to an increasingly costly system, while also making the patient experience a priority. His dedication to his patients, to his trainees, and to his research has been evident since the very beginning of his career. His continued mentorship of students, residents, and fellows strengthens and enriches our community. Special thanks to Dr. Mark Baratz, Clinical Professor and Director of the Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship at UPMC, and Dr. Robert Goitz, Professor and Chief of the Division of Hand Surgery at UPMC, for nominating Dr. Fowler. The Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is honored to congratulate Dr. John Fowler, and we are proud to have a future leader in the field as faculty.