Thursday, October 17th – Dr. Christian Gerber was recently in town as part of the ongoing Ralph & Mary Wilson Gift Lecture series, the 8th such presentation since the series began. Dr. Gerber is the active Full Professor and Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Zurich, as well as Medical Director and Head of Surgery.
Dr. Gerber discussed reverse total shoulder replacements and the diagnosis and treatment of subscapularis tendon ruptures. Dr. Gerber also held a general question and answer session in which UBMD Ortho physicians and residents had a chance to discuss procedures and techniques. Equally valuable was the time that Dr. Gerber spent in the Kenneth Krackow Orthopedic Surgery Lab. There, he demonstrated his techniques for arthroscopic subscapularis repair, open Latarjet shoulder reconstruction, and latissimus dorsi tendon transfer.
Today’s Ralph & Mary Wilson Gift Lecture was made possible through the $1 million donation the Ralph C. Wilson Foundation presented to UBMDOSM in September of 2011. The goal is to support research and education, particularly for the training of five orthopaedic residents and two sports medicine fellows who rotate through the department each year.
Dr. Gerber has been awarded numerous NEER awards throughout his career (2007, 1998, 1998, 1990), and has received the 2012 Achievement Award of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Additionally, Dr. Gerber is an International Editor for The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (American Volume), Corresponding Editor for the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, and Reviewer for The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (American & British volumes), the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, the Journal for Shoulder and Elbow Surgery and The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Dr. Gerber has been featured in over 300 publications, and is a member of many international organizations such as the AAOS, Australian Society for Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, ISG International Surgical Group, Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and the SGOT Swiss Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and traumatology (President 2010-2012, currently board member past president).
While in town, Dr. Gerber enjoyed much of what Western New York has to offer. He visited Niagara Falls, the Darwin Martin House, the Albright Knox Art Gallery, and attended a Buffalo Sabres NHL hockey game.
The generous Ralph C. Wilson Foundation donation to UBMDOSM was made by Ralph & Mary Wilson to honor the Buffalo Bills team physicians; UBMDOSM’s John Marzo, M.D. has served as the Medical Director and Head Team Physician for the Bills since 1991, and Les Bisson, M.D. has served as Assistant Team Physician and Orthopaedic Surgeon since 1995.
