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Kaye E. Wilkins, D.V.D., M.D., donated air miles and hotel points so pediatric orthopaedic surgeons from Third Word countries can receive training in the United States. Here he is pictured on the cover of American Way.
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SAN ANTONIO (Feb. 4, 2008) — Kaye E. Wilkins, D.V.D., M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has a big heart for children, including those in Third World countries. He demonstrated that recently when he won millions of air travel miles and points for hotel stays in an airline magazine’s travel contest.

Dr. Wilkins was the first-place winner of the American Airlines American Way Road Warrior contest, which asks readers what it takes to be a true road warrior. Entrants send their best travel photos, poems and answers to multiple-choice questions. Dr. Wilkins received 1 million American Airlines AAdvantage® miles and 2 million Hilton HHonors® bonus points.

He donated it all to the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, which will use the airline travel and hotel stays to help physicians visit the U.S. for training seminars.

“I just knew that the use of these miles and points could help many doctors come to the U.S. for training and that, ultimately, people could get the medical help they need in underdeveloped countries,” Dr. Wilkins told American Way. “The society can get so much more out of this wonderful prize than I could ever get out of it.”

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $576 million and 5,000 faculty and staff, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to seven campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.