Department History
Early History
The American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) was established in 1935, and by that time Rex L. Diveley, M.D. and Franklin Dickson, M.D. had already been training residents in Kansas City for several years. No one is certain when Drs. Dickson and Diveley took their first resident, but the origin of the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Orthopaedic Surgery Department and Residency can be traced to these two pioneering physicians. They established the Dickson-Diveley Orthopaedic Clinic in Kansas City in 1927, but had known each other at the Christian Church Hospital at 27th and Paseo since 1922. They moved their practice to Saint Luke’s Hospital in 1928, and established the orthopaedic department there, which exists to this day.
Both early members of the ABOS, Drs. Dickson and Diveley established a formal, one year orthopaedic residency in Kansas City at Saint Luke’s Hospital in 1935 with the founding of the board. When the ABOS expanded the orthopaedic surgery residency requirements to three years in 1938, Drs. Dickson and Diveley expanded their residency to three years and incorporated the Kansas City General Hospital #1 department of orthopaedic surgery into their program. Dr. Dickson became the ninth president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and Dr. Diveley the fifthteenth president.
1945-1980
In 1946, Rear Admiral Richard H. Keine, M.D. joined the Dickson-Diveley Orthopaedic Clinic and became chairman of orthopaedics at Kansas City General Hospital #1. He served in this position until his retirement in 1981, seeing the integration of Kansas City General Hospital #1 and Kansas City General Hospital #2 in 1957, the induction of the first class of medical students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine (UMKC SoM) in 1971, and the dedication of Truman Medical Center (which replaced the Kansas City General Hospital system) and the Medical School building in 1976.
John L. Barnard, M.D. (pictured) joined the Dickson-Diveley clinic in 1956 and became the first formal residency program director. He was program director until 1981.
1981-2012
In 1980, the ABOS requested that all residency programs become affiliated with an academic institution. The Dickson-Diveley program was integrated into the UMKC School of Medicine and became the UMKC/Truman Medical Center affiliated hospitals program. James J. Hamilton, M.D. became chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Truman Medical Center and assumed the role of program director of the residency in 1981. He was the longest serving chair and program director in the country at his retirement in July 2012, after serving for more than 30 years.
2012-2020
Mark Bernhardt, M.D. was named interim chair of the department in July 2012, and became permanent chair in July 2013. Brad Olney, M.D., chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Children’s Mercy Hospital, became program director of the residency in July 2012 and continued until 2015 when James Bogener assumed the role of program director.
2020-present
After Dr. Bernhardt’s death in 2020, Akin Cil, M.D. became interim chair and subsequently was made the permanent chair. Dr. Bogener left UMKC in October of 2021 and Amelia Sorensen, M.D. became program director.