AO NORTH AMERICA NEWS

Reports from the AO North America Education Committees

The Musculoskeletal, Spine, and Maxillofacial Education Committees have enjoyed another active and productive twelve months. The following Chairmen's reports detail their activities and accomplishments:

North American Musculoskeletal Trauma Education Committee (NAMTEC) Update

by Larry Webb, M.D., Chairman

Founded in 1988 by Jim Hughes, who served as its first chairman, the North American Musculoskeletal Trauma Education Committee organizes, monitors, and oversees all orthopaedic trauma AO courses in the United States and Canada. It is the mission of the committee to ensure that these courses are of the highest quality for the participants. The group meets quarterly with a full working agenda, and devotes much time and effort toward this end.

Sadly, we see the retirement of Jim Kellam from the committee this year. Jim has been a stalwart member whose timeless efforts have had a lasting impact on AO education. He was a proponent and initiator of the modular Basic Course format and participated in developing its current curriculum. He leaves behind a great NAMTEC legacy, and the committee salutes him and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

Trustee Larry Webb and his wife Sandy at the Annual AO Foundation Trustee Meeting in Cancun last June.

Over the past two years, the Committee successfully completed its application on behalf of the North American AO as a CME granting body with the ACCME. This status was granted after a thorough scrutiny by their review panel of our mission and the inner workings of our process. One future challenge for the committee is to put its procedural workings and the ACCME guidelines into a smoothly interdependent and linked process.

Richard Lange will replace Lawrence Webb as chairperson in March. All who know Dick are aware that he is a sincere and accomplished AO educator. His organizational and communication skills will make him an effective group leader, whose focus has always been, and will continue to be, excellence in teaching. Other committee members are: Joe Borelli, Richard Buckley, Christoph Geel, Jack Wilber, Jim Hughes, and ex officio members Joan Rousseau and Jim Gerry.

Committee members are pleased to welcome new member Jorge Alonso to the committee in 2000. He is an accomplished educator with keen insights, who should provide the committee with forward thinking. There is no doubt that this group will carry on its legacy, and help to keep AO courses in North America the model for education that they are.