James W. Stone, M.D., FAANA, an Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Orthopedic Institute of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been named president of AANA for 2022-2023. Dr. Stone recently completed his terms as second and first vice president and has been an active member of the organization for almost 30 years, serving on multiple committees. As Dr. Stone prepares to take office, he has a lot in store for the organization.
As a previous member for the AANA Education and Learning Center committees, Dr. Stone is committed to fulfilling AANA’s mission to “advance the art and science of arthroscopy and minimally invasive surgery through education, skills assessment and advocacy.” As the orthopaedic educational landscape has evolved over the past two decades, so too has AANA’s approach to providing educational tools to both members and nonmembers alike. He is keenly aware of just how crucial it is to provide expert education to the membership, whether through traditional meetings, cadaver laboratories, research or mentorship in addition to development of cutting-edge new opportunities using computer simulation or virtual reality and he is eager to further develop these efforts throughout his presidential term.
“Education and research are at AANA’s core,” Dr. Stone explains. “I am humbled to be working with an ambitious and talented board of directors and committee chairs to provide further value to our members by initiating high-quality clinical studies designed to investigate the efficacy of our surgical procedures so that we may develop enhanced coding resources and even better practice management offerings and opportunities for reimbursement.”
Additionally, Dr. Stone is focused on cultivating and mentoring surgeons who are in their training or early in practice, with an emphasis on those completing fellowship training. Under Dr. Stone’s helm, the next year will see an increase in education and mentorship prospects on everything from contract negotiation to clinical cases and navigating practice establishment.
Dr. Stone will also be turning his attention on those who are considering a career in orthopaedics, as they potentially make up the next greatest surgeons and leaders of AANA.
“The biggest decision of a medical student’s career is choosing which specialty to pursue, making it crucial to offer some sort of overview of orthopaedics,” Dr. Stone states. “AANA will be a conduit for offering that introduction through a new Future Scope course.”
And while Dr. Stone’s presidential predecessors have laid a foundation for improving diversity and inclusivity within the organization, he realizes that more work can and will be done.
“Continuing our efforts in diversity and inclusivity in orthopaedics is a must,” Dr. Stone adds. “If we can start the conversions early on with those who are underrepresented in medical school and provide them with education and mentorship, I believe we will see a great uptick in representation for this category.”
Dr. Stone joins a prestigious presidential line dating back to 1981, when the organization was formed to promote, encourage, support and foster the development and dissemination of knowledge of arthroscopy for the improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system. AANA is the primary source of continuing medical education for arthroscopists and the most respected conduit for new technique