Bernard R. Bach Receives AOSSM’s Highest Award

Bernard R. Bach, Jr., M.D. has received a surprise—and exceptional—honor from the American Orthopaedic Society of Sports Medicine (AOSSM). Dr. Bach, an orthopedic surgeon at Rush University Medical Center (Rush) and past president of AOSSM, received the 2017 Robert E. Leach Sports Medicine Leadership award on Friday, July 21, 2017 during the AOSSM Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Bach, team physician for the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bulls, earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, then attended the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then went on for a sports medicine fellowship at Hospital for Special Surgery.

In its July 22, 2017 news release, AOSSM wrote, “In 1986, Dr. Bach pioneered the sports medicine program for Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush (MOR); he held the position of Director of the Division of Sports Medicine for 30 years and was the Sports Medicine Fellowship Director for 28 years. Dr. Bach is currently The Claude N. Lambert, M.D. and Helen S. Thomson Endowed Chair of Orthopedic Surgery, and professor of orthopaedic surgery at Rush.”

Asked about being surprised, Dr. Bach told OTW, “I was totally caught off guard. This is such a special award and quite frankly I thought that if this EVER occurred would be awarded many years from now. There are some equally deserving colleagues I can think of who certainly could have been the recipient. As you may know the Vice President of the society presents this award and it was really kept under wraps. Once I saw the first baby photo I obviously realized that I was the Mr. Sports Medicine Award (Robert E. Leach Leadership Award) winner; I listened to Dr. Neal El Attrache’s presentation and quickly realized that I had to say something when I accepted the award. I tried to acknowledge that these types of awards occur because 1) you have had mentors guiding you, 2) partners, fellows and residents who collaborate together to make your team better, and 3) a stable loving supportive spouse and family. So, the award is a shared award for those who are part of your personal and professional team.”

Asked about a particularly rewarding teaching moment, he commented, “I don’t think there is a specific moment rather the recurring theme that our mantra for our sports medicine program is ‘to train the next generation of leaders.’ We have been fortunate to have incredibly gifted fellows who have been extremely productive during their year with us. They have set the table for themselves to make the next transition in their careers professionally. For the last decade 85% of our fellows have obtained academic positions! It is gratifying to see them rapidly becoming leaders within various societies, and particularly within the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine. At the recent annual meeting in Toronto I reviewed the program and our current faculty, fellowship alumni, current fellows and incoming fellows were involved in nearly 75 paper presentations, posters, surgical skills sessions, panelists, moderators, and instructional course lecturers. I refer to our program as our ‘family’ and we are having a significant educational impact in the arenas of sports medicine, shoulder and elbow surgery, hip arthroscopy, articular cartilage problems, knee ligament injuries, biologics, and representation within society leadership and involvement.”