2019 John R. Border Memorial Lectureship

Main presentations were given by Mark J. Anders, MD, and George Babikian, MD.

Anders is the director of orthopaedic trauma at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) and a clinical associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedics.

Anders earned his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1986, completed general surgery residency in 1989 and orthopaedic surgery residency in 1994 through the University at Buffalo. Anders then completed a fellowship in orthopaedic trauma at Henry Ford Hospital in 1995.

Board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, Anders’ experience spans more than two decades treating adolescent, adult and elderly patients. He is one of only three trauma fellowship‐trained orthopaedists in the Buffalo area. Anders specializes surgically, clinically and through research in: trauma and reconstructive surgery, general orthopaedics, hip and knee arthroplasty, knee surgery, lower extremity joint replacement and reconstruction, and orthopaedic surgery. As director of orthopaedic trauma at ECMC, his practice encompasses care of patients who have sustained acute, complex orthopaedic trauma and complications of musculoskeletal trauma. His goal is to return patients to full function from what are sometimes devastating injuries. In addition to trauma care, Anders cares for general orthopaedic patients who have a wide variety of clinical problems, including those with complications from injury and patients in need of lower‐extremity joint reconstruction.

Anders was one of three designing surgeons of a hip fracture implant for a major orthopaedic implant company. He championed the worldwide release of the implant and developed its early instructional courses.

Teaching is a significant part of Anders’ career. His interaction with trainees enables him to excel as a teacher and practitioner, and his commitment to teaching locally, nationally and internationally has been recognized with four teaching awards. He strives to produce capable, independent, ethical surgeons ready to launch successful careers.

Babikian came to Buffalo in August 1977 to begin what would be an undistinguished four years of medical school, saved by a fourth-year rotation on the Erie County Medical Center trauma service that introduced him to John Border, MD. Babikian was inspired to be a trauma surgeon and wanted to learn from Border in his program. Babikian matched in the ECMC surgical program in 1981. He spent 5 1⁄2 years working and living hard as a surgical resident, managing through several program upheavals to become a competent general trauma surgeon that really enjoyed the orthopaedic aspects of trauma care. Through Border’s influence, Babikian was accepted into an AO trauma fellowship in Chur Switzerland under the tutelage of Thomas Ruedi, MD, a great friend and colleague of Border’s. The experience confirmed and built on the quality of the teaching Babikian had benefitted from while in Buffalo.

Babikian returned to ECMC in 1986 to spend a year in the general surgery program as a critical care and trauma fellow, being largely treated as a first-year staff surgeon. Unfortunately, it was no longer possible for him to be a fracture doctor in this role, and as such he pursued an orthopaedic residency, again in Buffalo. This allowed Babikian more training under and with his mentors from the general surgery residency — Border, Seibel and LaDuca — and new role models in the orthopaedic department including Bone, Stegemann, and Rohrbacher.

Babikian was also privileged to work with and learn from great non trauma orthopaedic surgeons here, Gillespie, Papademetriou, Peimer, and Simmons to name a few. He graduated the program in 1992, and left for what he thought would be a short time. Babikian would be the second surgeon in the United States board certified in both general and orthopaedic surgery (Larry Bone being the first). He felt he would become an academic orthopaedic surgeon in Buffalo, but wanted to see what he could do on his own before starting teaching. He went to Portland, Maine, attracted by the quality partners he would have and the volume of trauma work he would get while living in a small city. He never left. Babikian is here to tell you the rest.