May 17-18, 2019

Target Audience

This course is targeted to Primary Care Physicians, Specialty Physicians, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Fellows, Residents, and Med Students. This course may also be of interest to physicians who practice in Family Medicine, Orthopedics, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Plastic Surgery, and Rheumatology.


2019 Smith Day & Jupiter International Forum Lecturer:
Terry S. Axelrod, MD, MSc, FRCSC

Terry S. Axelrod, MD, MSc, FRCSC was born and educated in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the recipient of the Shafran and Cameron awards for highest medicine/surgery when he graduated from the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. He also completed both his Orthopaedic residency and MSc, at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Axelrod first completed a Trauma and Upper Extremity clinical fellowship at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre and then a clinical and research Hand surgery fellowship with Prof. Ueli Buchler at the Inselspital Bern in Switzerland.

On returning to Canada, Dr. Axelrod assumed a full time clinical appointment at Sunnybrook at the rank of Assistant Professor. He has held the position of Division Chief, Sunnybrook Orthopaedics and CME Chair, Dept of Surgery U of T. He has been the recipient of the Bruce Tovee as well as the Robert Salter post graduate resident teaching awards, Department of Surgery, as well as the Marvin Tile Distinguished award for service provided to Sunnybrook Hospital. At the undergraduate level, Dr. Axelrod has received the Peters-Boyd Academy teaching award, as well as the same award, years later for Continuing Education. Currently, Terry holds the rank of Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto and continues with a clinical practice in Upper Extremity Trauma and Reconstruction.

Dr. Axelrod has a long affiliation with AO Trauma North America and has served as faculty, chair and co-chair at a multitude of courses across North America, Europe and Asia. To date, he is author or co-author of approximately 50 peer review publications, 16 Book chapters and several manuscripts.

He is the proud father of four now-grown children, all excelling in their respective fields, sharing this pride with their mother Heather Shapiro, his wife of 36 years. As time goes on, look for Terry either in the Muskoka cottage region of Ontario or in Palm Beach, both sites of waterskiing excellence, as work days and clinical duties lessen.


About Richard Smith, MD

Richard J. Smith, MD was an extraordinary individual and one who could not be replaced. Henry Mankin, MD, in writing Richard Smith’s obituary in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 1987, stated so eloquently, “his capacities, talents, and commitment made him, in the eyes of man, our finest flower and the thirty years he gave to hand surgery, one of its finest periods.”

Dr. Smith was born in the Bronx, New York, attending the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. He received his college education at Brown University, graduating in 1951. His medical education was obtained at New York Medical College, where he was elected to AOA and graduated in 1955. Following a surgical internship at Bellevue Hospital, Dr. Smith began his Orthopaedic surgical training at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City, completing the program in 1960. During his training at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, he became a disciple of Emmanuel Kaplan, MD, who at that time was a leading authority in anatomy of the hand. Under Dr. Kaplan’s tutelage, Dr. Smith became determined to pursue a career in the relatively new field of hand surgery.

Following a two-year obligation to the Public Health Service in Boston, Dr. Smith spent a year of Hand Fellowship, divided between Mr. Guy Pulvertaft in Derby, England and Dr. Joseph Boyes in Los Angeles, California. In 1963, Dr. Smith returned to the Hospital for Joint Diseases to join Dr. Kaplan and later in 1968 to succeed him as the Director of the Hand Service. During this time, he established himself as an outstanding clinician, surgeon, and most of all, a renowned educator.

In 1972, Dr. Smith moved to Boston to become the Chief of the Orthopaedic Hand Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital and, in 1980, was named Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. During his tenure at the MGH, he expanded his activities in hand surgery to an international level and in 1982 served as President of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Dr. Smith always found the time to be a devoted husband to his wife Jane and a devoted father to his daughters Lisa and Tracey, and late son James.

For all who had the unique good fortune to have known Dr. Smith, studied under him, or worked with him in any capacity, what will endure most of all was his remarkable skill and devotion to education, the pursuit of excellence, and the advancement of the specialty of hand surgery.

In 1989, the MGH Orthopaedic Hand Service, led by Jesse B. Jupiter at that time, designated a day in honor of Dr. Smith and his life’s work. This year marks the 29th Annual Richard J. Smith Memorial Lecturership commonly known as “Smith Day” with Thomas J. Fischer, MD as the distinguished orator.

About Jesse B. Jupiter, MD, Honored Sage

Jesse B. Jupiter, MD, MA is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at MGH. He earned his MD at Yale in 1972 and completed his surgical internship at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in 1973.

Following, Dr. Jupiter completed a two-year commitment as a general medical officer in the US Public Health Service Indian Health branch with the Pima Indians in Arizona. His interest in medical education was enhanced with the development of educational programs improving primary care for both diabetic and arthritic patients.

In 1975, he began the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program. In 1980, Dr. Jupiter traveled to Basle, Switzerland where he completed an AO Fellowship after which he completed a hand and microvascular fellowship in Louisville, KY.

He returned to Boston in 1981 and began his academic and clinical career at MGH. During his 33 years on the faculty he has had the opportunity to head the Trauma Service, Foot and Ankle Program and the Hand Service.

Dr. Jupiter is an honorary member of more than 20 international societies of either Hand Surgery or Orthopaedic Surgery and has been named to America's Top Surgeons annually and Best of Boston since 2007.

Dr. Jupiter is an internationally known and sought after hand and upper limb specialist. He has given more than 1000 scientific presentations, published more than 220 original publications, 140 analytic reviews, 115 chapters in scientific texts and was co-author or co-editor of 10 major texts in upper limb and orthopaedic problems. Dr. Jupiter has developed a worldwide reputation, especially related to problems of the wrist and elbow along with all other conditions involving the hand and upper limb.

Past Smith Day & Jupiter Forum Lecturers

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