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HARVARD SHOULDER SERVICE
Mission Statement
The mission of the Harvard Shoulder Service (H.S.S.) is to provide regional, national, and international leadership in the advancement of care for problems affecting the shoulder. This mission is based on advancement of knowledge through research, improvement of care through education of physicians, and clinical management of all problems affecting the shoulder.
The Harvard Shoulder Service at Partners was formally organized in the Spring of 1998. It is based at the MGH and the BWH. The goal of the H.S.S. is to be the preeminent shoulder center in the world. This mission is built on a three point foundation.
I. CLINICAL MISSION:
The H.S.S. is a regional, national, and international resource for all
physicians who have patients with difficult shoulder problems, including those
with failed prior treatment. All patients will be cared for without consideration
as to means for payment, and with the greatest concern for a careful, thoughtful,
and compassionate solution to their problem. Our goal is also to function
as a resource for orthopaedic specialists, non-orthopaedic physicians, therapists,
and other health care providers who have questions regarding the care of patients
with shoulder problems.
II. ACADEMIC TEACHING MISSION: The H.S.S. is
committed to advancing the education on management of shoulder problems for
residents in training, post-graduate fellows, and practicing orthopaedic specialists.
This commitment crosses all national boarders. In addition to the training
of residents, postrgraduate fellows are selected from applicants who apply
from all over the world to participate in the Intercontinental Shoulder Fellowship
based at the Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals. This
is the only international shoulder fellowship in the world, and it involves
a collaboration between the orthopaedic departments of MGH and BWH and the
University of Zurich in Switzerland.
A Visiting Shoulder Surgeon Scholar Program is also available and this program
provides training of up to one year for orthopaedic surgeons from around the
world who wish to learn advanced techniques for the care of patients with
shoulder problems. To date, physicians from over 30 countries have visited
and participated in this program.
The H.S.S. is also committed to providing a resource to all health care providers
by answering commonly asked questions regarding care of the shoulder.
III. RESEARCH MISSION: The H.S.S. has a strong
commitment to both clinical and basic research aimed at answering important
questions about shoulder pathology. Biomechanical studies performed in our
laboratory have been very important for the development of new techniques
for the management of shoulder instability, rotator cuff tears, and joint
reconstruction for arthritis and fractures.
Our History
The Massachusettes General Hospital has a great tradition as a leading center in the world for the management of shoulder problems. In the early part of the last century, Dr. Ernest Amory Codman was an Instructor at the MGH. He is acknowledged as the first true pioneer in the care of shoulder surgery on the North American Continent. He was the first physician to propose an organized surgical approach for management of rotator cuff tears and degenerative conditions of the shoulder. His textbook, "The Shoulder" was one of the first textbooks dealing with the shoulder as a specific anatomic region, and it remains a seminal work in the overall body of literature on the shoulder. His advanced concept of the "End Result" measured a patient's treatment "outcome" as determined by the surgeon's perception. For these and other contributions, history has remembered him as the first great Boston Shoulder Surgeon, and in his time he had no peer.
In the middle of the last century, and until he retired in 1988, Carter Rowe, M.D., was a central figure in Shoulder Surgery in the United States. He was one of the founding members of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Society, and he was the developer of the commonly employed Bankart Repair for shoulder instability. His publications on the management of instability of the shoulder formed the "gold standard" for care of these problems. Indeed, his name became synonymous with the Boston Shoulder Tradition, and his clinical experience formed the basis for development of many arthroscopic methods to treat shoulder instability.
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