CAOM Honours Founding Member Dr. Jean-Paul Ouellette with Lifetime Achievement Award

On September 19, 2026, the Canadian Association of Orthopaedic Medicine presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Jean-Paul Ouellette in recognition of his distinguished service to orthopaedic medicine in Canada. The award was presented at the closing banquet of CAOM’s 40th Annual Conference by Dr. Aly Lakhani, Chairman and President of CAOM. Dr. Ouellette was unable to attend, and the award was accepted on his behalf by his son, Dr. Érik Ouellette, a member of the CAOM Board of Directors.

The timing of the honour was especially fitting. Dr. Ouellette was one of the founding members of the Association, and he helped establish the organization whose work and fellowship members continue to celebrate four decades later.

A career shaped by one question

Dr. Ouellette graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa in 1970. After several years in practice, he became increasingly focused on a problem familiar to every CAOM member: how to better understand and treat patients with persistent and recurrent musculoskeletal pain.

That question shaped the rest of his professional life. In 1977, he began studying orthopaedic medicine, with a particular interest in the work of Dr. James Cyriax. In 1980, he completed a fellowship in Cyriax orthopaedic medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York. From then on, his practice centred on orthopaedic medicine, and he became widely recognized for his expertise in prolotherapy.

A teacher at home and abroad

Dr. Ouellette has never kept his knowledge to himself. Over the course of his career he has been invited to lecture and teach in Canada, the United States, Central America, Europe, and China, and he has contributed to the medical literature on orthopaedic medicine and prolotherapy.

His commitment to teaching has also reached across generations. His son, Dr. Érik Ouellette, followed him into medicine and into the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, and the two had the opportunity to practise alongside one another. Today, Érik carries forward another part of his father’s legacy through his service on the CAOM Board of Directors.

Leaving knowledge behind

Beginning in 1985, Dr. Ouellette, assisted by his wife Louise and their four children, travelled twelve times to Honduras and Nicaragua to provide medical care to people in need. He did more than treat patients during those visits. He taught physicians in Honduras to use prolotherapy themselves, so that patients could continue to benefit long after he had returned home.

In his remarks, Dr. Lakhani described this as medical service at its best: not simply bringing one’s skills somewhere for a few weeks, but leaving knowledge behind.

International recognition

Dr. Ouellette’s contributions have been recognized well beyond Canada. In 2010, the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine presented him with its Award of Excellence for his exceptional contribution to the field.

A legacy we share

As Dr. Lakhani noted, a lifetime achievement award recognizes accomplishments: the patients treated, the physicians taught, the papers written, and the organizations built. In Dr. Ouellette’s case, CAOM members are also direct beneficiaries of something he helped create. Forty conferences later, members still gather to learn from one another, challenge one another, teach the next generation of physicians, and improve the care of patients with musculoskeletal pain.

“Organizations such as ours do not simply appear,” Dr. Lakhani told the audience. “Someone has to have the idea.” Dr. Ouellette was one of those people.

In presenting the award, Dr. Lakhani recognized Dr. Ouellette as an educator, a clinician, a humanitarian, a pioneer of orthopaedic medicine in Canada, and one of the founders of the Association.

The award itself carries its own story of generosity. The hefty plaque, crafted by Chris Knight of Platinum Art from Indian rosewood and hand-hammered silver, was donated to CAOM by Mr. Knight, who was so moved by Dr. Ouellette’s long history of giving that he chose to contribute his work as a gift.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and all members of the Canadian Association of Orthopaedic Medicine, we extend our congratulations, our gratitude, and our warmest wishes to Dr. Jean-Paul Ouellette. Thank you.