AONA Surgeon Profile
Professor Howard Rosen, M.D.
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In 1960, a young New York orthopaedic surgeon named Howard Rosen became aware of an
uncle of a close friend who had sustained a severe elbow fracture in an accident.
The man received a cast, and the elbow would not heal, causing this once active
individual to become depressed and almost a recluse. Finally, in a visit to the
Cleveland Clinic, this patient was told of a doctor in Switzerland who was surgically
treating fractures with a new system involving plates and screws. Dr. Rosen found
out that this Swiss surgeon - Dr. Maurice Müller of the AO Group - would be
attending an international surgical meeting in New York City the next month.
Armed with x-rays, Dr. Rosen found Dr. Müller at the meeting, who said
that he could easily internally repair the fracture and that Uncle Paul
would be playing tennis again in six weeks. The uncle immediately scheduled
the operation in Switzerland, and in fact did begin to play tennis again six
weeks after the surgery. Howard Rosen was so intrigued by this miracle that he
signed up for the December 1960 AO Course in Davos, even though it was in
German. At the course, he met Robert Mathys, Senior, who was devoting his
factory in Bettlach to the manufacture and development of the new AO products.
Dr. Rosen was so impressed with what he saw at the course in Switzerland that
he convinced Dr. Mathys to sell him sets of the basic AO instruments and
implants, which he carried back to New York on the Swissair flight home.
And thus, AO was introduced to the United States.
Howard Rosen was born in New York City and still would not live anywhere
else. He received his medical training at New York University College of
Medicine and did his orthopaedic residency at the Hospital for Joint Diseases,
New York City. During this time he met the love of his life, Connie, who has
become almost as familiar as Howard himself at the numerous AO courses and
Foundation meetings in which he participates. The Rosens have two daughters,
Aileen and Terry, who both also reside in New York City (Manhattan). Terry,
the eldest, is the head of Computer Graphics at a New York advertising firm.
Aileen is married, but to Howard's chagrin, with no children.
After returning from Switzerland, Dr. Rosen began using the new AO system for
patients with difficult fractures and non-unions, whom he treated at Joint Diseases
Hospital in New York. His surgical skills and excellent clinical results soon had
doctors all over the region sending him their difficult cases to operate on. This
is still true today, and Professor Rosen was honored in 1993 by the Hospital for
Joint Diseases as the first recipient of its prestigious Frauenthal Medal. This
"lifetime achievement" award was presented to Dr. Rosen in recognition of his
national and international reputation and his tremendous contributions to
improved patient care and teaching at the Hospital for Joint Diseases over
the past four decades. Other awards and honors which have been bestowed upon Dr.
Rosen are too numerous to mention, as are the numbers of times he has participated
as a faculty member or chairman of AO Courses. But to give some perspective, Dr.
Rosen has been a faculty member at every Annual AO Course in Davos since 1969.
He is also a Trustee of the AO/ASIF Foundation, and has been honored in Israel
for his
surgical contributions in that country during the 1967 and 1973 wars.
Howard and Connie Rosen are truly charter members of the "AO Family", and
those of us at Synthes who have known them for so many years are fortunate
to count them both as wonderful friends. We are proud to congratulate
Professor Rosen on his tremendous accomplishments and great contributions
to improved patient care, and wish him continued success in the years ahead.
By James E. Gerry
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