Stephen J. Tredwell, MD
Dr. Stephen Tredwell (Steve) has long been a true pioneer, championing the development of a distinct identity for pediatric orthopaedics as a critical sub-discipline within the broader orthopaedic community. He couldn’t have planned a better career for himself, with a unique blend of frontline clinical practice in children’s orthopaedics and teaching at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
After graduating from the UBC Faculty of Medicine and interning at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Dr. Tredwell returned to UBC for his orthopaedic residency, which was followed by fellowships in anterior spine surgery in Hong Kong, scoliosis surgery and bracing in Minneapolis, and focused pediatric orthopaedics in Wilmington and Boston. He then returned to his hometown of Vancouver in 1972 to join Dr. Michael Bell as one of the first two practitioners in BC to focus purely on pediatric orthopaedics.
Within the Department of Orthopaedics at the UBC, Dr. Tredwell began a career-long involvement with medical ethics when he authored BC’s first surgical informed consent document in the mid-1970s. He eventually ascended to vice chair of the Orthopaedic Department. His work to establish an academic pediatric division within the Department of Orthopaedics is one of his proudest accomplishments; prior to its creation, BC had four pediatric orthopaedic surgeons practicing in private offices. His drive to create organizational change transformed the way pediatric orthopaedics was recognized within and beyond the province.
In 1991, he was appointed head of the department he helped establish at BC Children's Hospital as well as head of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics within the Department of Orthopaedics at UBC. He was granted full professorship in 1998 and Professor Emeritus status in 2007.
While working to establish the department at BC Children’s Hospital, he was also an integral part of founding initiatives across North America. He has been a member of POSNA since its formation, initially serving on the board as a member at large prior to becoming chair of the Educational Committee and then Secretary. In addition, he was a founding member of the International Pediatric Orthopaedic Think Tank (IPOTT) and a lifelong member of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS).
As a Canadian, Dr. Tredwell recognized the importance of also advancing the evolution of pediatric orthopaedics in his home country. Consequently, he became a leading voice for the sub-specialty across Canada, serving as chair of the Program Committee for the Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA) as well as program chair for the Orthopaedic Section of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In his role within the COA, he turned his focus to improving surgical education and the examination process. Over the first 24 years of his career, he was an integral member of the Royal College examination process in orthopaedics, serving first on the written examination panel. At one point, he had authored over 50% of the pediatric written content for the Royal College. This was followed by terms as a member of the oral panel, as the chief examiner for orthopaedics, and as a member of the Evaluation Committee of the Royal College. His work on these committees radically changed the Canadian examination format to allow for more reproducibility within the examination and more structure in the evaluation.
Beyond his role in the Royal College, he started one of the senior pediatric orthopaedic fellowship programs in the country at BC Children’s Hospital and has been integral to the Clinical Research Unit there since his arrival. A staunch equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) advocate, he hired the first disabled faculty scientist at UBC, the first female surgical staff member within orthopaedics, and committed to growing the international diversity of the fellowship program at BC Children’s Hospital. Thanks to his vision and leadership, the fellowship program today has trained surgeons now practicing across Canada and 15 other countries. Currently, BCCH has fellows from Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, India, and Canada. Additionally, within UBC as a whole, he was instrumental in starting the Emeritus College at UBC, the first such association of its kind in Canada.
During his tenure at BCCH and UBC, Dr. Tredwell has been a terrific colleague and mentor, dedicated to supporting the growth of his successors. As an Emeritus, he remains intimately involved with the department, regularly attending grand rounds and mentoring medical, graduate, and undergraduate students on research projects. Reflecting upon his career, Dr. Tredwell is most proud of his trainees and mentees who have grown into world-class pediatric orthopaedic surgeons in their own right. He also has some sage advice for those who are the future of our specialty: “You have inherited a most challenging and most rewarding discipline, enjoy the ride.” During his career, he has tried to emulate one of his mentors and another POSNA Hall of Fame Member, Dr. G. Dean MacEwen, whose mantra was: “Pediatric Orthopaedics lives in the clinic and visits the OR.”
Biography written by Dr. Michael Millis, on behalf of the Hall of Fame Committee. 2023.
