A great mentor, a living legend and superhero in my heart, and my English teacher….
I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear about Dr. Dorr passing away on the Operation Walk Facebook on 12/29. In my heart, Dr. Dorr is a giant, legend, and superhero.
Dr. Dorr set up a Research and Education Foundation. He sponsored orthopedic surgeons from other countries, such as Kenya, Nigeria, Japan, India, and China, to learn hip and knee arthroplasty techniques in Dorr Arthritis Institute for 1-3 years. It costed about $70,000 – 80,000/people per year. Dr. Dorr tried the best of his ability to train and help his research fellows. Dr. Dorr gave every research fellow the opportunities to observe in OR, assign several research projects, publish at least one article, attend conferences such as AAOS and Master’s Series.
I was Dr. Dorr’s research fellow in 2007. Dr. Dorr assigned me two fascinated projects: outpatient total hip arthroplasty, and pelvic tilt and computer navigation in THA. Starting my research was difficult because I did not understand these modern THA and TKA techniques before, and English is not my native language. First, Dr. Dorr gave me a list of articles about these projects to read. After I wrote the draft of these articles, Dr. Dorr began to revise these articles word by word and correct numerous grammatical errors in these articles. Dr. Dorr is very busy in clinic, OR, Operation Walk, meetings, and research. However, he spent a countless amount of time to revise these articles. He would sometimes help me twice a day, and over one hundred times in one year. When I finished my one-year research fellowship, I learned lots of modern THA/TKA knowledge from Dr. Dorr. My English also improved a lot. Dr. Dorr loves his students and fellows. He enjoyed training young orthopedic surgeons from other countries. It is also part of Dr. Dorr’s charitable activities, like Operation Walk.
Dr. Dorr also influenced and touched everyone in his team. Jeri helped us to rent an apartment near the hospital. She often invited us to have parties in her backyard or have dinners in the restaurants with her family on holidays. PJ gave me a bicycle when she found out that I did not have a driver’s license yet. Lisa Chao, a physician now, drove me to my apartment when I locked my key in the car. Dr. Wan was Dr. Dorr’s research director who helped every research fellow to finish his project. He was also my translator and is an excellent orthopedic surgeon now. Yancey, Dr. Dorr’s driver, was a hilarious guy. He brought us laughter every day. Lisa, a medical assistant, gave me tickets to a Clippers game when she knew my wife visited me from China. A medical assistant even did not ask me to repair her new car, when I damaged her car in the parking lot accidentally. There are so many wonderful memories in Dorr Arthritis Institute.
“There is a God, but it is not me” Dr. Dorr knew that he could not help every student and fellow to achieve his/her dreams. However, he still tried his best to help everyone arrive at the nearest place to their goals. Dr. Dorr made everyone around him a better person. I told my son about Dr. Dorr’s legacy many times since he was in elementary school. Now he is a freshman in high school.
It may have some grammar errors; however, Dr. Dorr couldn’t correct them for me anymore.
Dr. Dorr, my superhero, I will miss you forever.