The American Orthopaedic Association founded the Austrian-Swiss-German Travelling Fellowship tour in 1981. The ASG Fellowship, as it is known, represents exchange between the AOA and the Austrian, Swiss and German orthopaedic associations.

The North American Travelling Fellowship (NATF) commenced in 1968. The first group of Fellows began their tour in Washington, and then visited a number of orthopaedic centres throughout the United States and Canada.

The ABC Travelling Fellowship is an educational exchange shared by a group of young orthopaedic surgeons selected by the American, British, Canadian, New Zealand, Australian and South African orthopaedic associations. The Fellowship was conceived by Dr. R.I. Harris of Toronto, Ontario during his presidency of the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) in 1948.

Originally known as the "French Fellowship", the CFBS Fellowship was inaugurated in 1972 by Drs. J.P. Moreau and Tony Trias. The original intent of this Fellowship was to generate interest in the orthopaedic specialty among the younger French speaking orthopaedic surgeons.

In 1982 the COA received an offer from one of our members, Dr. Igor Bitenc, to sponsor an annual travelling fellowship for a young orthopaedic surgeon from the then Yugoslavia. The first Fellow completed his Canadian itinerary in 1985. The COA now hosts one Fellow per year on a rotational basis from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

This Fellowship was named in memory of Dr. Igor Bitenc's late mother, Mrs. Anica Bitenc.