699 C OPYRIGHT Ó 2015
BY
T HE J OURNAL
OF
B ONE
AND J OINT
S URGERY, I NCORPORATED
After retirement from the Army, Dr. Omer started his academic career in 1970 by becoming the first chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he also established a microsurgery laboratory, a hand fellowship, and one of the first divisions of hand surgery in the United States. Following his retirement as chairman in 1990, Dr. Omer continued his practice of medicine by lecturing, writing, consulting, and serving on national and international advisory boards. He consulted on hand problems for a diverse variety of entities, including the National Football League, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and the Navajo Nation. He was a trustee for The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. He published numerous articles with topics ranging from the treatment of rattlesnake bites to the Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) for Hand Surgery. His contributions to orthopaedics were many and varied. Most of his early endeavors dealt with military trauma, including the results of open fractures and upper-extremity fractures. In his 1970 article coauthored with Major Thomas H. Witschi, “The Treatment of Open Tibial Shaft Fractures from Vietnam War,” in the Journal of Trauma, Dr. Omer outlined the tenets of open fracture debridement that endure today: Of the edge of the skin, take a piece very thin The tenser the fascia, the more you should slash’er. Of muscle much more, until you see fresh gore And bundles contract at the least impact Hardly any of bone, only bits quite alone And irrigation so extensive, that saline solution becomes expensive.
George E. Omer Jr., MD 1922-2014
G
eorge E. Omer Jr. passed away on November 20, 2014, at the age of ninety-two. He was instrumental in the specialty of orthopaedics and the development of the subspecialty of hand surgery over his fifty-five-year career in orthopaedics. Before 1940, orthopaedics was a nonoperative field of “straps and buckle men,” that is, physicians who treated pediatric and adult conditions like polio with splints and braces. After World War II, orthopaedics became an operative subspecialty for the musculoskeletal system. In the 1970s, orthopaedics came into the era of implants, with internal fixation and arthroplasty, and new techniques such as arthroscopy and microsurgery. Orthopaedic subspecialties developed in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Omer’s career spanned almost the entire history of operative orthopaedics, and he was a driving force in the development of the subspecialty of hand surgery. Dr. Omer’s distinguished military career began with service in the U.S. Army as a noncommissioned officer in World War II, followed by medical school at the University of Kansas. From 1950 to 1970, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. His accomplishments included a commendation for establishing five centers devoted to hand injuries in Korea in 1959. He was promoted to Colonel and was the chief of hand surgery and orthopaedic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center from 1965 to 1970, during the height of the Vietnam War. He published extensively on a variety of topics, including open fractures and upper-extremity nerve injuries associated with gunshot wounds.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2015;97:699
d
http://dx.doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.O.00082
Dr. Omer also published on a wide range of hand problems, particularly the treatment of nerve injuries to the upper extremity, in which he recognized that the majority (70%) of nerve injuries associated with gunshot wounds were axonotmeses from the zone of softtissue damage around the high-velocity bullet pathway. He coauthored two editions of the definitive textbook Management of Peripheral Nerve Problems, in 1980 and 1998. Dr. Omer’s skill, dedication, work ethic, and integrity contributed to achievements in national orthopaedic societies. In 1965, he became a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and became the president in 1978. He was the president of the American Orthopedic Association (AOA) in 1989 and helped to preside over the 100th meeting of the AOA in 1987. During his ten-year tenure on the board of directors for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons (ABOS), he oversaw the development of the recertification process for orthopaedic surgeons as well as the development of the CAQ in Hand Surgery and served as the president of the ABOS in 1987. Dr. Omer was married to Wenda (Wendie) for sixty-five years, and she accompanied him on his many trips representing the AOA and other orthopaedic organizations around the world. He was predeceased by their son Eric and is survived by his wife, their son Michael, their six grandchildren, and his sister Betty Creek. His extended orthopaedic family includes more than 200 residents, fellows, and faculty, practicing for a generation throughout the world, but especially in the western United States. Dr. Omer has left a lasting legacy in military medicine as well as to patients and doctors in the Southwest, particularly New Mexico. His international legacy is the establishment of the subspecialty of hand surgery in general and the treatment of upper-extremity peripheral nerve injuries in particular. —T.A.D.
Copyright of Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, American Volume is the property of Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
BY
T HE J OURNAL
OF
B ONE
AND J OINT
S URGERY, I NCORPORATED
After retirement from the Army, Dr. Omer started his academic career in 1970 by becoming the first chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he also established a microsurgery laboratory, a hand fellowship, and one of the first divisions of hand surgery in the United States. Following his retirement as chairman in 1990, Dr. Omer continued his practice of medicine by lecturing, writing, consulting, and serving on national and international advisory boards. He consulted on hand problems for a diverse variety of entities, including the National Football League, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), and the Navajo Nation. He was a trustee for The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. He published numerous articles with topics ranging from the treatment of rattlesnake bites to the Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) for Hand Surgery. His contributions to orthopaedics were many and varied. Most of his early endeavors dealt with military trauma, including the results of open fractures and upper-extremity fractures. In his 1970 article coauthored with Major Thomas H. Witschi, “The Treatment of Open Tibial Shaft Fractures from Vietnam War,” in the Journal of Trauma, Dr. Omer outlined the tenets of open fracture debridement that endure today: Of the edge of the skin, take a piece very thin The tenser the fascia, the more you should slash’er. Of muscle much more, until you see fresh gore And bundles contract at the least impact Hardly any of bone, only bits quite alone And irrigation so extensive, that saline solution becomes expensive.
George E. Omer Jr., MD 1922-2014
G
eorge E. Omer Jr. passed away on November 20, 2014, at the age of ninety-two. He was instrumental in the specialty of orthopaedics and the development of the subspecialty of hand surgery over his fifty-five-year career in orthopaedics. Before 1940, orthopaedics was a nonoperative field of “straps and buckle men,” that is, physicians who treated pediatric and adult conditions like polio with splints and braces. After World War II, orthopaedics became an operative subspecialty for the musculoskeletal system. In the 1970s, orthopaedics came into the era of implants, with internal fixation and arthroplasty, and new techniques such as arthroscopy and microsurgery. Orthopaedic subspecialties developed in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Omer’s career spanned almost the entire history of operative orthopaedics, and he was a driving force in the development of the subspecialty of hand surgery. Dr. Omer’s distinguished military career began with service in the U.S. Army as a noncommissioned officer in World War II, followed by medical school at the University of Kansas. From 1950 to 1970, he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. His accomplishments included a commendation for establishing five centers devoted to hand injuries in Korea in 1959. He was promoted to Colonel and was the chief of hand surgery and orthopaedic surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center from 1965 to 1970, during the height of the Vietnam War. He published extensively on a variety of topics, including open fractures and upper-extremity nerve injuries associated with gunshot wounds.
J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2015;97:699
d
http://dx.doi.org/10.2106/JBJS.O.00082
Dr. Omer also published on a wide range of hand problems, particularly the treatment of nerve injuries to the upper extremity, in which he recognized that the majority (70%) of nerve injuries associated with gunshot wounds were axonotmeses from the zone of softtissue damage around the high-velocity bullet pathway. He coauthored two editions of the definitive textbook Management of Peripheral Nerve Problems, in 1980 and 1998. Dr. Omer’s skill, dedication, work ethic, and integrity contributed to achievements in national orthopaedic societies. In 1965, he became a member of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) and became the president in 1978. He was the president of the American Orthopedic Association (AOA) in 1989 and helped to preside over the 100th meeting of the AOA in 1987. During his ten-year tenure on the board of directors for the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons (ABOS), he oversaw the development of the recertification process for orthopaedic surgeons as well as the development of the CAQ in Hand Surgery and served as the president of the ABOS in 1987. Dr. Omer was married to Wenda (Wendie) for sixty-five years, and she accompanied him on his many trips representing the AOA and other orthopaedic organizations around the world. He was predeceased by their son Eric and is survived by his wife, their son Michael, their six grandchildren, and his sister Betty Creek. His extended orthopaedic family includes more than 200 residents, fellows, and faculty, practicing for a generation throughout the world, but especially in the western United States. Dr. Omer has left a lasting legacy in military medicine as well as to patients and doctors in the Southwest, particularly New Mexico. His international legacy is the establishment of the subspecialty of hand surgery in general and the treatment of upper-extremity peripheral nerve injuries in particular. —T.A.D.
Copyright of Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, American Volume is the property of Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
