ROBERT WILSON JACKSON, OC, MD, FRCS, FRCSC, FRCS(Ed): a conversation with the editor

Robert W. Jackson, MD, and William C. Roberts, MD

From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery (Jackson) and the Baylor Heart and Vascular Hospital (Roberts), Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.

Corresponding author: Robert W. Jackson, MD, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, 3500 Gaston Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75246 (e-mail: rw.jackson@baylorhealth.edu).

Robert Jackson was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1932 and grew up there. He received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1956. After a rotating internship, he did a year of research in the orthopaedic surgery department at one of the hospitals connected to the University of Toronto; for his work during that year on the proper management of fractures of the tibia, he received the International Award from the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. After the year of research, he did 2 years of training in general surgery in Toronto. After another year in orthopaedic research in Boston, he did 18 months of orthopaedic training at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in England and then 12 months of additional training in Bristol. He and his wife then returned to Toronto and the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Toronto.

Within a year, Dr. Jackson received a Markle Scholarship, which provided the opportunity for him to go to Tokyo, Japan, where he met Dr. Masaki Watanabe, who was beginning work on arthroscopy of the knee joint. He and Dr. Watanabe became good friends, and upon returning to Toronto, Dr. Jackson continued perfecting the arthroscopy techniques that had been introduced to him. It wasn't long before Dr. Jackson was the world's top arthroscopy expert, and that expertise attracted numerous orthopaedic surgeons and patients from around the world to Toronto. From 1976 to 1985, he was chief of orthopaedics at Toronto Western Hospital; in 1982, full professor in the Department of Surgery, University of Toronto; and from 1985 until 1992, chief of staff and chief of surgery at the Orthopaedic and Arthritic Hospital in Toronto. In 1992 he moved to Dallas to be chief of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Baylor University Medical Center. Despite a busy practice, his research endeavors have led to the publication of 132 articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and to the publication of 48 chapters in various books.

For his work he has received many awards and honors, including the Lister Prize in Surgery from the University of Toronto; the Award of Merit from the city of Toronto; the Founder's Medal from the Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society; the J. C. Kennedy Award for Research in Sports Medicine; the Award for Excellence in Research from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine; the Olympic Order from the International Olympic Committee; the Jackson-Burrows Medal for Meritorious Academic Achievement from the Royal National Orthopaedic Institute in London, where he trained; and the Mr. Sports Medicine 2001 Award from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. Additionally, Dr. Jackson was the only physician recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 individuals who have had a significant impact on sports in the last half century; he was chosen for introducing and developing arthroscopic surgery. He and his lovely wife of 40 years are the parents of 5 children. Bob is a wonderful guy and a splendid and innovative surgeon, and he does Baylor honor by being one of its department heads. (BUMC Proceedings 2002;15:171-184)