Joseph Schatzker: In his own words

By: Vidula Bhoyroo, Project Manager/Medical Writer, AO Education Institute

Joseph Schatzker, CM, MD, BSc(med), FRCS(C), is the author of the universally used Schatzker Classification of Fractures of the Tibial Plateau published in 1974. He was the AO President from 1998 to 2000 and became an Honorary Trustee (2000−present). He was also the senior editor of AO Surgery Reference (2008−18). Currently, he is Emeritus Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto, and is an active orthopedic surgeon, Sunnybrook Health Science Center, Toronto, Canada. Joseph Schatzker has been honored with more than 30 visiting professorships in Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America.

Globally, Schatzker has received too many awards and recognition to list here. A selection of these include the following: the Medical Alumni Scholarship for being first in the graduating class of 150 students in 1960; North American AO Man of Distinction, awarded for clinical leadership and excellence in teaching of AO techniques, 1977; Colin Woolfe Award for excellence in Postgraduate Medical teaching, University of Toronto, 1989; President Orthopaedic Trauma Association of North America, 1990; Honorary Professor and Director of Orthopaedic Department Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, PR China, 2003; and University of Wroclaw Poland Gold Medal for Scientific Contributions, 2018.