Steamboat Foundation cultivates leadership in these Steamboat Scholars through a unique ten-week experience.

Each year, one Steamboat Scholar is selected from the junior class at Columbia University to be mentored by Columbia alumnus and renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Altchek, Attending Orthopedic Surgeon in the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at Hospital for Special Surgery. The Scholar shadows Dr. Altchek in clinical consultations and surgical procedures in the operating room, a level of access previously only extended to post-residency Surgical Fellows. The Scholar also participates in clinical research projects by collaborating with other physicians and medical students.

Dr. Altchek is the Medical Director for the New York Mets and the New Jersey Nets. He served as the Team Physician for the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team from 1999 to 2003 and was the North American Medical Director for the Association of Tennis Professionals, which sponsors the men’s professional tennis tour. Dr. Altchek is the Co-Chief of the Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He is a Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and is the author of over 100 articles, publications in referred medical journals, and book chapters on problems of the shoulder, elbow, and knee.

The Summer Scholar Program underscores Steamboat Foundation’s aim: to build a lasting culture of leadership that emphasizes integrity, demands a rigorous work ethic, and encourages the kind of risk-taking that leaders must learn to assume. It is designed to be a rigorous and comprehensive experience, timed to impact young leaders at a formative moment in their professional and personal lives, preparing them to take on leadership roles at work and in their communities.