Christopher J. Dy, MD, MPH, and Eric Makhni, MD, MBA, have been selected to serve as the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) Washington Health Policy Fellows for 2013. The AAOS Washington Health Policy Fellowship Program is designed to encourage participation by orthopaedic senior residents in the federal health policy arena. The program seeks to foster the development of a new generation of advocates who are interested in policy-relevant topics of long-range importance.

Dr. Dy graduated from the University of Miami’s Honors Program in Medicine and combined MD/MPH programs. He is a PGY-5 orthopaedic surgery resident at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

He has a deep interest in policy-oriented health services research and has been awarded a postdoctoral fellowship, funded by the National Institute for Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), to pursue these interests. As an AAOS Washington Health Policy Fellow, he looks forward to applying the knowledge he gained as a 2013 presidential scholar for the National Health Policy Conference hosted by AcademyHealth.

Dr. Makhni will be a PGY-4 resident in orthopaedic surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City during his fellowship. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he went on to complete the combined MD/MBA program at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School.

“My clinical research focused on the age-related outcomes of distal radius fractures, but this research began to include practice-management elements as I progressed through the dual-degree,” said Dr. Makhni. “My current research focus is on the underlying mechanisms of injury in the upper extremity of overhead athletes. From a policy perspective, I have also worked on various cost-effectiveness analysis projects, and I hope to focus on improving the efficiency of healthcare delivery within orthopaedic surgery. This includes the effective utilization of outpatient care centers, as well as care delivered within the confines of major hospital networks.”

These two new Washington Health Policy Fellows are a welcome addition to the AAOS Washington Health Policy Fellowship Program and will ensure its continued success.