Paul Tornetta III, MD, PhD, FAAOS, Named 92nd President of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) announced Boston orthopaedic trauma surgeon Paul Tornetta III, MD, PhD, FAAOS, as its new president for 2024-2025. Tornetta takes this top leadership role in his third year of a four-year term of volunteer service on the Board of Directors. He will assume the position following the AAOS 2024 Annual Meeting this week in San Francisco.

“I am honored and humbled to serve as AAOS president. As orthopaedic surgeons, we share a strong bond based in helping others. We have the tools to contribute to the greater good – to make a positive impact on the well-being of others that few people can,” Tornetta said in his acceptance speech.

Tornetta is the director of orthopaedic trauma at Boston Medical Center, and professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. He describes himself as a “blue-collar surgeon” who takes pride in promoting a shared decision-making model with patients and fostering lifelong professional learning for surgeons.

Tornetta is a highly respected professor known for his passion for teaching and efforts to advance orthopaedic education, training, and surgical techniques. His reputation for fairness and transparency has earned him numerous recognitions. BU orthopaedic residents selected him four times to receive the annual Robert E. Leach, M.D., Resident Teacher of the Year Award. He earned distinction as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor every year since 1999 and a Boston Magazine Top Doc since 2006. He is past president of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association (OTA) and served on the executive committee of the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) for more than a decade.

“I am deeply grateful to the AAOS Board of Directors for entrusting me to take on this role and look forward to working alongside them and with the many volunteer and staff leaders in the organization to move our profession forward in the service of our patients,” said Tornetta. “We succeed only with each other, and I am optimistic about the future for our patients – and for us.”
Among his many AAOS volunteer positions, he previously served as a member-at-large on the Board of Directors, chaired the Education Council for four years, was past chair of the Annual Meeting Committee and former Evaluations Committee. In 2022, his leadership in the collaboration between the AAOS, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS), the Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors (CORD) and AAOS Resident Assembly was instrumental in launching the AAOS Resident Orthopaedic Core Knowledge (ROCK) Curriculum.

Tornetta has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers and leads the Orthopaedic Trauma Research Consortium. The consortium focuses on large-scale studies to improve surgical best practices for some of the most common musculoskeletal diseases. He has been a steering committee member for trials that were recognized with the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) Clinical Research Award (2010) and the Kappa Delta Ann Doner Vaughn Award (2020, 2023). He is also the recipient of multiple Bovill Awards, given to the top paper at the OTA annual meeting.

Tornetta earned his medical degree and completed his internship and orthopaedic residency training at the State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn, N.Y. After a fellowship at Hospital of the Good Samaritan in Los Angeles, he was appointed director of orthopaedic trauma at Kings County Hospital Center and the University Hospital of Brooklyn before moving to Boston Medical Center.

With more than 39,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world’s largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level to best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related musculoskeletal healthcare issues; and it leads the healthcare discussion on advancing quality.