UAB Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Associate Professor, Foot and Ankle Fellowship Director and Director of Clinical Research Ashish Shah, M.D., and Assistant Professor Michael Johnson, M.D., were awarded a one-year, $60,000 OMeGA grant.

The funding received from the grant will go directly to the Foot and Ankle Fellowship, which has over 100 program graduates practicing nationally and across the globe. The fellowship is integrated with the orthopaedic residency so that fellows work with the attendings and residents to gain a fully university-based experience, ultimately producing dynamic and successful graduates.

OMeGA Medical Grants Association ensures the continued financial support of orthopaedic residency and fellowship programs—the foundational components of orthopaedic practice and professionalism. Grants support education that is critical to maintaining quality orthopaedic patient care, and funds can be used for salary and benefits to help support one fellow in the subspecialty in which the program applied. Last year, OMeGA grants supported 10 foot and ankle fellows, and grants were awarded to 62.5 percent of programs that applied.

Additionally, OMeGA-supported fellows reported 23 foot and ankle clinical research projects in the first six months of the 2019-2020 academic year.

Figure 1: Average number of foot and ankle procedures performed per quarter for years of tracked data.

OMeGA awards grants to trainee programs that they consider both developing and established. Of these categories, the Foot and Ankle Fellowship received one of a few select grants earmarked for an established program. In order to be eligible for an established program grant, the fellowship program must have been in existence for more than three years, have a history of graduating trained fellows for at least two years, and have been previously awarded two Developing program grants.

Johnson and Shah are both pleased that the program was selected this year.

“The OMeGA grants are awarded to a distinguished few orthopaedic trainee programs, so we are delighted that our Foot and Ankle Fellowship was chosen,” said Johnson. “For us, this means furthering the educational opportunities within the fellowship, and we could not be more thrilled to continue to grow and enhance the program.”