How One Institution’s Heritage Embodies the History of Orthopedics

For clinicians seeking to advance their specialty, a grasp of its history is essential. One way to deepen that understanding is by examining the development of a single institution—an approach taken by the documentary On the Shoulders of Giants, which traces the heritage of NYU Langone Health’s Department of Orthopedics to the discipline’s most illustrious ancestors.

The hour-long film grew out of a project by orthopedic surgeon Kenneth A. Egol, MD, a self-described history buff who led residents and students in cataloging biographies of the department’s clinical pioneers. “At NYU Langone, we often say we’re standing on the shoulders of giants,” says Dr. Egol, who serves as vice chair for academic affairs for orthopedic surgery and chief of orthopedic trauma. “But our research convinced us that this was a story others needed to know.”

To tell that story, he and Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, chair of orthopedic surgery, turned to award-winning documentarian Peter Sanders, who had been under their care for several years—most recently for a midfoot fracture. “I look back on that as ‘the break that led to a bigger break,’” Sanders says. “I might never have become involved with this project if I wasn’t seeing these doctors as a patient.”

The film was an official selection of the 2024 Tribeca X Award competition, a celebration of the year’s best brand-supported storytelling. It is now available to stream on multiple platforms.

The Formative Years

The saga begins at Bellevue Hospital in 1853, when Lewis Albert Sayre, MD, started his practice. Then, in 1861, he became the first professor of orthopedic surgery in the United States. Among Dr. Sayre’s outstanding students were brothers Henry and Herman Frauenthal, who in 1905 founded the Jewish Hospital for Deformities and Joint Diseases.

By 1921, that entity had grown from a single brownstone in upper Manhattan to a multibuilding complex known as the Hospital for Joint Diseases (HJD) —one of the foremost patient care centers in the United States.

From the beginning, the hospital was home to many of the field’s seminal figures:

• Emanuel Kaplan, MD, gained renown as a founder of the discipline of hand surgery.
• Henry L. Jaffe, MD, joined the faculty in 1924 and has been credited as the father of orthopedic pathology for his systematic classification of bone and cartilage tumors.
• Leo Mayer, MD, one of the original chiefs of service, was a leader in polio care in the 1920s and 30s.
• Harry Finkelstein, MD, developer of the Finkelstein test, was another original chief of service.
• Surgeon Michael Burman, MD, became a pioneer of diagnostic arthroscopy in the 1930s.
• In 1935, Marian Frauenthal Sloane, MD, Herman Frauenthal’s daughter, became the first female orthopedic surgeon in the United States to publish an article in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Henry Milch, MD, devised the Milch classification system for lateral condyle fractures in the 1950s.
• Howard Rosen, MD, brought the principles of internal fixation, originally developed in Switzerland, to the United States.
• Paul Lapidus, MD, established America’s first orthopedic foot service and invented the Lapidus procedure for treating hallux valgus—it’s still in use today.
• Victor H. Frankel, MD, established the nation’s first biomechanics laboratory at HJD, and subsequently introduced the Ilizarov limb-lengthening technique to the United States.
• Melvin H. Jahss, MD, a student of Dr. Lapidus, published the classic textbook on disorders of the foot and ankles and went on to found the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society.
• Jacques Serge Parisien, MD, forged new paths in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine.

All these innovators appear in On the Shoulders of Giants, whether in archival photographs, vintage video footage, or interviews conducted for the film.

Continuing the Legacy

The oldest connection between NYU Langone and HJD runs through Bellevue Hospital, where faculty members have taught and practiced since the 19th century. The link became even closer in the 1990s, when HJD affiliated with NYU Langone. In 2006, the two institutions completed a full asset merger, with the HJD becoming the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases—now named NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital.

As the documentary shows, the legacy of Lewis Albert Sayre lives on in NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery , which operates NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital and provides services at numerous sites throughout the metropolitan area. The film introduces over three dozen current faculty members, orthopedic trainees, and administrators. Their demographics are more diverse than those of earlier generations, but their mission remains much the same.

In one scene, Dr. Zuckerman illustrates that continuity through a diagram of a tree, whose roots represent Sayre and the Frauenthals, and whose trunk stands for NYU Langone orthopedics as it exists today. “Emanating from that into the branches,” he explains, “is the clinical care we provide and the scientific discovery and innovation that we perform, and the education of residents and fellows.”

The department’s residency program, Dr. Zuckerman adds, is the largest of its kind in the country. This, along with the robust fellowship programs, offers a comprehensive and immersive educational experience provided by NYU Langone orthopedics. As a result, “there are hundreds of NYU Langone orthopedic graduates providing patient care across the country,” says Dr. Zuckerman. “There are thousands and thousands of patients who are benefiting from NYU Langone orthopedics either directly or indirectly. For us, that is the most meaningful aspect of what we do.”