Report from the 2009 AOA North American Traveling Fellowship.

Focused on young surgeons starting their careers in academic orthopaedics, the John J. Fahey, MD, Memorial North American Traveling Fellowship (NATF) has served to promote clinical, intellectual, and scientific exchange in orthopaedic surgery for the last forty-five years. The 2013 NATF was a tremendous experience for each and every one of us. We quickly developed very tight bonds with each other and friendships that will undoubtedly last throughout our careers and lives. At each site on the fellowship tour, we were made to feel special by our hosts and everyone with whom we came into contact. We each feel that we achieved the goals set out by the AOA (American Orthopaedic Association), making the most of this phenomenal experience through academic exchange, socialization, and networking and developing an appreciation of the various paths to success in orthopaedic surgery.