Dear Colleagues:
Thank you for your support throughout my presidential year. There are a lot of moving parts to an association such as ours, and serving as president can seem like a daunting task. However, with our membership’s involvement, commitment and encouragement to our organization, the year has flown by and has been both rewarding and productive. It was great to see all of you with whom I have grown close to over the past three decades of my AANA Membership gathered on the ballroom floor of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans for the culmination of our annual meeting. My sincere thanks and congratulations to Program Chair Dr. Brian Waterman on a fantastic program.
In reflecting upon AANA’s accomplishments over the past year, I am reminded of the dedication and commitment of our board of directors, executive committee, committee chairs and all of the members who serve on committees.
Looking forward, I am pleased to announce that AANA has launched a new strategic plan. As part of the new strategic plan, we have refined the organization’s mission and vision statements to reflect our current and future goals. By focusing on four fundamental areas: Education, Practice Management, Research and Membership, AANA will achieve its refocused vision to be the global leader in arthroscopy and minimally invasive surgery.
I am especially proud of our efforts to assist the arthroscopy and sports medicine fellowship programs to satisfy their ACGME training requirements, which can be quite burdensome especially for smaller, non-academic programs. AANA is filling that gap with a complimentary webinar series for these programs, Comprehensive Orthopaedic Resident and Fellows Education (CORE). CORE saw considerable growth since its inception in 2020. In just its third year, almost 40% of fellowships are accessing these webinars that provide engaging content on ACGME-required curriculum. Topics range from joint-specific arthroscopy to osteotomy and nonorthopaedic business topics, and are presented by many of AANA’s leaders in these fields. What is even more significant is that the goals of this program are twofold: AANA is not just assisting these fellowships with necessary curriculum, but is also fostering a relationship with current Fellows that will translate into future involvement and leadership of our organization.
Our collaborative work with other societies resulted in numerous educational programs throughout the year. We partnered with the International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS) last November for a lab course dedicated to knee and shoulder arthroscopy, which was held at a lab training facility in Miami. The course proved highly successful and featured a bilingual learning opportunity for our Spanish-speaking colleagues. Our partnership with the Biologic Association for Specialty Day in March combined updates on joint-specific procedures along with tips on how to incorporate biologics into our clinical practices for a robust program that was well received by our attendees. The annual meeting featured partnerships with the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS), the FORUM, the ON Foundation and ISAKOS for a more comprehensive perspective on the techniques we use regularly. All of these educational endeavors broadened our ability to impact advancement in arthroscopy and minimally invasive surgery.
I am delighted to pass the AANA gavel on to our new President Dr. John (JT) Tokish. His passion for research, education and service will take our organization to new heights. JT and I both have grown to understand that leadership is crucial but we cannot succeed as an association without the support of our dedicated membership. JT, our association is in great hands with you at the helm and we are at your service as you guide AANA forward over the upcoming year.
Congratulations to JT and the 2023-2024 AANA Board of Directors!
With gratitude,
James W. Stone, M.D., FAANA
AANA Immediate Past President