Assoc Prof. John O’Donnell has been performing hip arthroscopy since 1990 and was one of the earliest developers of arthroscopic FAI surgery in 2002. He is one of the early pioneers in the field and is one of the most experienced hip arthroscopists in the world, having performed over 10,000 hip arthroscopies.

Assoc Prof. O’Donnell graduated from The University of Melbourne in 1977 and completed his Orthopaedic training in Melbourne. After traveling overseas working in The UK, France and Austria, he returned to Melbourne to take appointments at the Royal Childrens Hospital and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He developed an interest in shoulder surgery and gained experience and skill with arthroscopic techniques and equipment in this area. He utilized these attributes to successfully develop hip arthroscopy techniques and instruments.

Widely respected, he has presented nationally and internationally on the subjects of hip arthroscopy and hip replacement surgery, as well as publishing more than 50 papers in peer reviewed journals, and book chapters. He is frequently visited by national and international colleagues seeking tips and techniques. He maintains the only fellowship program in hip arthroscopy in Australia, and has trained more than 30 Fellows from Australia and around the world. He was one of the 12 Founding Members of the International Society for Hip Arthroscopy, has been a longstanding Board Member, and was President of ISHA from 2014 to 2015. He is also an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Hip Preservation Surgery, and frequently reviews papers for that journal, as well as Journal of Arthroscopy, and the Journal of the American Society for Sports Medicine. He was also the Founding President of the Australian Hip Arthroscopy Society (AHAS).

Since 2012, Prof. O’Donnell has organised the HAA Hip Arthroscopy Meeting, which every second year has brought many of the World’s best hip arthroscopy surgeons to join the surgeons of HAA, and with other Australian surgeons to teach the latest and most up to date knowledge to surgeons, sports doctors, and therapists.

In 2007 Prof. O’Donnell was one of the first two Australian surgeons to introduce the current technique of Anterior Approach Total Hip Replacement (AMIS©) into Australia and continues to teach this technique to other surgeons.
Prof. O’Donnell’s other interests include his growing family, as well as bush walking, road cycling and snow skiing.

http://www.johnodonnell.com.au/

John O’Donnell received the Joe McCarthy Award at ISHA-The Hip Preservation Society Annual Meeting in Melbourne in October 2018