2022 AOSSM/ESSKA European Sports Medicine Traveling Fellowship
Dr. Xinning “Tiger” Li received the prestigious 2022 American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) European Sports Medicine Traveling Fellowship in partnership with the European Society of Sports Traumatology, Knee Surgery & Arthroscopy (ESSKA). Dr. Li was among only four board-certified orthopaedic surgeons selected in the United States and Canada to receive this distinguished award. Considered to be one of the highest honors in academic orthopaedics, the AOSSM/ESSKA traveling fellowship is awarded every two years to orthopaedic surgeons who have shown outstanding clinical, educational, and research accomplishments and have actively contributed to their local community, institution, and the AOSSM.
The AOSSM/ESSKA Traveling Fellowship, first established in 1986, was created to promote scientific exchange, professional collaboration, and mutual learning among emerging orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons across continents. In April 2022, Dr. Li and his co-fellows visited leading orthopaedic institutions across Spain, Luxembourg, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and France. Over the four-week academic and cultural exchange, the fellows observed complex knee, shoulder, and sports procedures, participated in cadaveric training, and delivered lectures at top European centers.
The fellowship began in Barcelona, where Dr. Li observed advanced knee and shoulder procedures and participated in a cadaver lab. In Luxembourg, he visited the ESSKA headquarters and exchanged ideas on ACL reconstruction and cartilage restoration. Dr. Li gave a lecture on the AAOS Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Rotator Cuff Tears. At the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute in Bologna Italy, Dr. Li presented on anterior shoulder instability during a distinguished session in the historic Campanacci Auditorium. In London, the fellows observed elite athlete care and complex ligament reconstructions at the Fortius Clinic. The journey continued to Oslo, where they visited the Norwegian Olympic Training Center and engaged in an academic session discussing biologic knee and shoulder reconstruction at the Oslo University Hospital and the Oslo Sports Trauma Research Center. The fellowship concluded at the Lyon School of Knee Surgery and with attending the 40th ESSKA Congress in Paris. The fellowship provided a unique opportunity for professional collaboration, cultural exchange, and lasting global connections in orthopaedic sports medicine.
