AO Alumni President Ray White and Trustee Jorge Alonso contemplate the future of AO at the AO Alumni Symposium in Davos in August 1999.
Triennial AO Alumni Association Symposium
by Ray White, M.D., President, AO Alumni Association
AO Alumni President Ray White and Trustee Jorge Alonso contemplate the future of AO at the AO Alumni Symposium in Davos in August 1999. |
The Triennial AOAA Symposium was held on August 18-21, 1999, in Davos, Switzerland. The symposium was a success and we were fortunate to have 130 participants from 35 countries and virtually every continent on the planet. Several Alumni from North America attended. Our goals of information, education and camaraderie were all fulfilled. We received abundant information from the AO Foundation, AO International, and the Research and Development Institutes. We spent an afternoon seeing various demonstrations at the AO Institute, including: flexible nails for long bones, less invasive surgery (LISS), materials and cells, computer-assisted surgery, computer as a teaching aid and for presentations, computer for literature search, and Qualicare (AO CID link). Many attendees also participated in consulting hours at the AO Center. We also heard reports from the AOTK and the specialty Expert Groups, including: Long Bones, Spine, Pelvis, Hand/Small Implants, Foot, and Vet.
Educationally, there were three debates. The first was plate vs. nail fixation of metaphyseal fractures, which was highlighted by superb presentations. We also had debates on the use of a compression hip screw vs. the proximal femoral nail, with two presenters giving their viewpoints on each side of this issue. Mike Baumgartner from New Haven took the side of the PFN. We then had a debate with regard to proximal humerus fractures, whether to repair or replace these fractures. In each debate we had excellent lecturers, and a lively discussion followed each set of presentations.
We had group discussions on various topics, such as fractures in osteoporotic bone, bone substitute material, minimally invasive internal fixation, stimulation of fracture healing, and I.M. nailing in polytrauma. These were also lively discussions in which the participants played a very active and vital role.
There followed a terrific session on gunshot injuries with four presenters from four separate continents. Jorge Alonso presented his material from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. In each case, the four gentlemen from around the world had come to essentially the same conclusion on how to treat these injuries.
We also had a wonderful session on how bone infections are treated in different parts of the world. This again was a fascinating discussion on the way in which our colleagues around the globe care for infection and neglected problems.
On Saturday, August 21, 1999, during the Triennial AOAA Symposium, the General Assembly was held. We are pleased that the actual Committee was reinstated to serve for another period of three years. The Committee consists of:
President:
Raymond R. White, M.D., USA
Vice-President:
PD Dr. Dominik Heim, Switzerland
Secretary:
Dr. Antonio Pace, Italy
Treasurer:
Prof. Key-Yong Kim, South Korea
Advisor:
Prof. Klaus Wenda, Germany
Ex Officio:
Prof. Thomas Ruedi President AO International, Switzerland
Finally, new friendships were developed at various social events, which were sponsored by our producer partners, Mathys Medical, Stratec Medical and Synthes (USA).