Interview with Dr. Eric Bohm
Interview with Dr. Eric Bohm
Dr. Eric Bohm feels the biggest challenge facing a surgeon engaged in the scientific side of medicine is to balance clinical responsibilities with research interests. When he received his MMSF Clinical Research Professorship in 2004, he says it became much easier for him to pursue both sides of his career.
In 1992, he graduated from McMaster University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and three years later received his MD from the same institution. In 2000, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada with a specialty in orthopedic surgery after completing a five-year orthopedic residency in Saskatoon. Subsequently, Dr. Bohm completed a fellowship in hip and knee arthroplasty and an MSc in Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University, Halifax.
In 2002, Dr. Bohm became an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Orthopedic Research, Section of Orthopedic Medicine, at the University of Manitoba with a cross appointment to the Department of Community Health Sciences. He is the medical advisor to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) joint replacement registry and orthopedic waitlist initiative.
Dr. Bohm’s clinical interests are primary and revision hip and knee replacement surgery; his research interests include the outcome of joint replacement operations, radiographic stereometric analysis (RSA), and healthcare policy and resource management. He and his colleagues regularly conduct randomized trials and maintain an ongoing prospective data base that follows the outcomes of almost all patients who have undergone hip and knee replacements by his group. They use RSA to measure the micro-motion between a hip or knee replacement and surrounding bone, as well as to assess the bearing surface wear that occurs in joint replacements. This allows for relatively rapid assessment of new implant designs and surgical techniques, speeding up a process that normally requires 10 to 15 years.
His work also involves the development and validation of a questionnaire to assess the impact of hip replacement surgery on a patient’s ability to return to work and resume his occupational role. The questionnaire has been administered to 100 patients awaiting hip replacement surgery; the results have been presented at meetings of the Canadian Orthopedic Association and are currently being prepared for publication.
Other interests include healthcare policy, waitlist management and surgical care delivery. He participated in a national research group that produced reports used by the federal government to set benchmarks for waiting times for hip and knee replacements. He has helped the WRHA redesign the delivery of hip and knee surgeries to reduce waiting times and currently chairs the WRHA orthopedic surgery standards committee.
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