Ian Harris, PhD, MSc, MBBS, FRACS
Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Liverpool Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals, and UNSW Sydney
Sydney, Australia
How has the AAOS helped you throughout your career?
Mainly through educational material and the annual meeting.
As an International Member, which AAOS resources do you use most and why?
Annual Meeting, as I find it a concentrated source of up-to-date material and a chance to catch up with people in person to discuss their work.
What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?
I have been educated in evidence-based medicine and science and have been taught not to base my beliefs on what I see (observation) because we are too influenced by our own biases and what we want to believe, and even by the last case we remember. There are more reliable ways of making clinical decisions - by conducting and learning from experimental evidence. This has been taught to me by academics with whom I have worked.
What’s your go-to productivity trick?
Deal with things as they come up - don’t let them sit for too long.
What’s one thing you’re currently trying to make a habit?
Running. Unless it is a daily routine, it is too easy to skip it
What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time?
Woodworking. It is a much more precise and versatile craft than orthopaedic surgery, despite many of the instruments being similar.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that not many people know?
I have become a Beatles expert and often find myself discovering and exploring interesting facts about the band - there is so much out there.