was Professor of Clinical Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology at the Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France.
culosis. While there, he developed great interest in tuberculosis of the musculoskeletal system and coauthored several papers on its operative and chemotherapeutic treatment with Dr. Cleveland and Dr. Bosworth.
After completing his residency at St. Luke’s, Bill was invited to join the practice of Dr.
Bosworth, who had a great influence on his career in orthopedic surgery. Bill served as an American–British Canadian (ABC) Exchange Fellow in 1957 and, later, as Professor of Orthopedics at Columbia University.
Bill had a special interest in photography and was introduced to a new technique, cineradiogra- phy, by a medical photographer in New York. He was fascinated by the ability to make an “x-ray movie” of the motion of various areas of the skeletal system and chose the cervical spine as the subject for a cineradiographic exhibit, which he presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in 1959. This not only introduced orthopedic surgeons to the new radiographic technique, but also enhanced Bill’s interest in the cervical spine. He later devoted much of his career to the cervical spine and wrote a number of classic articles on the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of the first and second cervical vertebrae. He was a founding member and president of the Cervical Spine Research Society and was recognized throughout the world as one of the few experts on this subject.
Bill was a tireless worker for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and served on 13 committees, including the Scientific Program Committee, of which he was chairman in 1976.
He became president of the Academy in 1983 and continued to serve as a member of the board of directors from 1984 to 1990.
He held memberships in 34 orthopedic ass- ociations and societies, both national and international, including the American Orthopedic Association, the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons, the Canadian Orthopedic Association, and the American College of Surgeons. He received the Kappa Delta award in 1963 and the Nicholas Andry award for special scientific con- tributions in 1975.
After a tenure as Orthopedic Director of the Polyclinic Hospital in Manhattan and the House of St. Giles (a children’s orthopedic hospital) in Brooklyn, Bill succeeded Dr. Frederick R. Thompson as Director of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital in 1973. He became director of a combined ortho-
104Who’s Who in Orthopedics
Joseph William FIELDING
1923–1998
Joseph William Fielding was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on February 17, 1923. After completing his undergraduate education, he entered the Toronto School of Medicine in 1941 and graduated in 1946. While in medical school, he served in the reserves in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force. An excellent student and athlete, he par- ticipated in several sports, including football, track, soccer, and water polo. After completing a rotating internship at the Vancouver General Hos- pital in Vancouver, British Columbia, he contin- ued his postgraduate education with residencies in pathology at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City in 1947 and at Montreal General Hospital in 1948. He completed a general surgical internship at Shaunessey Hospital in Vancouver in 1949 and then returned to St. Luke’s Hospital to begin his orthopedic training.
Under the tutelage of Dr. Mather Cleveland, Dr. David M. Bosworth, and Dr. Frederick R.
Thompson, Bill was exposed to many areas of
orthopedics, with particular emphasis on the spine
and the hip. He spent 1 year of his orthopedic
residency at the Seaview Hospital in Staten
Island, a major center for the treatment of tuber-
Who’s Who in Orthopedics pedic program with Roosevelt Hospital, which
was integrated in 1987 after the two institutions merged.
Bill was an energetic, highly motivated surgeon and educator with excellent clinical and operative skills. His enthusiasm for orthopedic surgery was passed on to many of the residents whom he trained, who were often in awe of his accom- plishments and his unique personality. He pro- duced 14 sound-slide programs and 15 medical motion pictures and videotapes and was credited with 162 scientific publications, 60 of which appeared in The Journal of Bone and Joint
Surgery. In addition, he contributed chapters to 35textbooks. Well known as an international lecturer and teacher, he was invited to serve as a visiting professor at many academic institutions and societies in America and throughout the world.
Although his interests encompassed many areas of the musculoskeletal system, his major contri- butions were related to his work on the cervical and lumbar spine.
Despite his remarkably busy career, Bill found time to study the origins of ancient civilizations.
He visited many sites around the Mediterranean and in Central and South America and assembled an outstanding collection of photographic slides that were of archaeological and anthropological interest. He presented these slides at many ortho- pedic meetings and was always ready to given an interesting dissertation on the structural remains of ancient cities, tombs, and meeting sites, during which he would point out evidence of muscu- loskeletal diseases and how they were treated in early times.
Bill participated in numerous instructional courses and used innovative photographic tech- niques that delighted audiences. No one dozed during a Fielding slide show, and those who were present at his Presidential Address in Anaheim, California, will not forget the multiple slide pro- jectors that were positioned and synchronized around the perimeter of the auditorium. The pres- entation received a standing ovation.
Joseph William Fielding died on March 18, 1998. He was survived by his wife, Doris; four children, Pamela, Bruce, Debra, and Victoria.
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