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A reborn New Orleans hosts the AAOS 77th annual meeting
The 5-day meeting provides up to 35.5 hours CME credit, including 1-day specialty society meetings.
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The return of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting to New Orleans on March 9-13, the first time the group has convened there since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, has generated considerable excitement among U.S. and international orthopedic surgeons and members of the orthopedic industry.
The meeting promises to cover hot orthopedic topics, including health care reform, young athletes’ injuries and femoroacetabular impingement, while providing updated information on orthopedic knowledge and surgical practice for orthopedic surgeons, nurses and allied health professionals with all levels of experience, according to meeting organizers.
“The program is a little different this year because we are starting the program on Tuesday,” Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), said.
“This is a comprehensive learning experience and to get it all in we needed to move the start of the meeting up one day.”
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In the span of 5 days — culminating with 13 Specialty Day meetings on Saturday, March 13 — attendees can see 24 symposia, 720 podium presentations and 567 poster presentations covering basic science and clinical topics in orthopedics at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
Attendees can earn up to 35.5 hours of CME credit, but they need to officially check-in at the meeting before they can start earning credits.
Those who want to focus their time at the 2010 meeting on a particular orthopedic specialty area will find it easy to locate the scientific offerings that provide them the best opportunities to learn new information and techniques and rejuvenate their practices. As usual, this year’s program book is color-coded by specialty area, helping attendees maximize their time at the meeting, Zuckerman said.
Shouldering on
The 196 instructional course lectures (ICL), which require a special admission ticket, offer in-depth insights from world renowned orthopedic experts into such topics as strategies to prevent and treat complications, osteoarthritis treatment for all the major joints and hip arthroscopy.
“Meniscal repair and transplantation is also a popular course and virtually all shoulder topics, including a scheduled course this year on shoulder impingement syndrome, are expected to be very well attended,” Zuckerman said.
When Orthopedics Today spoke with Zuckerman about 7 weeks before the start of the 2010 meeting, pre-registration numbers were ahead of last year’s at the same time point. Nearly 8,500 surgeons had already registered vs. 8,100 physicians who had registered by that time in 2009.
“Even ICL sales are ahead of last year’s, which was a phenomenal year,” he said, noting ICL registrations for the meeting in Las Vegas were the highest ever.
New Orleans, which has long been in the rotation of sites where the AAOS holds its annual meeting, is undoubtedly part of the reason for added and early interest in the upcoming meeting, Zuckerman said.
Educational revival
Zuckerman encouraged people to arrive early in the week to take advantage of the diverse educational opportunities offered Tuesday, including a symposium on advances in ACL surgery, and several podium presentations.
The complimentary Maintenance of Certification Course on Tuesday, which includes a 1-hour overview and four different 1-hour breakout sessions, is designed for post-1985 board-certified orthopedists, he said.
For added learning, 89 scientific exhibits that focus on results in orthopedics are on tap for the entire meeting. They can be viewed 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM on Tuesday, 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM Wednesday through Friday, and 7:00 AM to 5:30 PM on Saturday.
More than 500 technical exhibits showcasing the latest developments in orthopedic technology, including prostheses, implants, instrumentation and other devices, will be displayed in the Morial Convention Center on March 10-12.
New relationships
Mexico was selected as the 2010 AAOS meeting guest nation and will be recognized during the Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, March 10, at 4:00 PM in the convention center’s La Nouvelle Ballroom.
Zuckerman, who ends his year in office at the meeting, identified the major activities during his term as dealing with health care reform issues, improving how orthopedists manage their practices and formalizing an agreement with the Orthopaedic Education and Research Foundation for enhanced funding of orthopedic education.
“It is the responsibility of every AAOS president to promote unity between the specialty societies and the academy. This year we made a strong commitment to regularly communicate with each society and ensure they were aware of synergistic activities between our organizations,” he said. “I look forward working together in the future to further enhanced orthopedic unity.”
For more information:
- Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, can be reached at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, 301 E. 17th St., 14th Floor, New York, NY 10003; 212-598-6674; e-mail: joseph.zuckerman@nyumc.org.
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