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Danish Orthopaedic Society is focused on guidelines, education
The Society considers itself a key international partner with the European Federation of National Societies of Orthopaedics and Traumatology.
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The Danish Orthopaedic Society was established in 1945, at a time when treatments performed by surgeons in World War II led to orthopaedic surgery becoming a separate surgical specialty worldwide.
“[The Danish Orthopaedic Society] DOS was formed as part of the surgical society. Orthopaedics eventually divided itself out because of different approaches. In the beginning, it was not only surgery, but bandages [and] conservative treatment, especially children’s orthopaedics, which was prominent at that time,” Morten Schultz Larsen, MD, PhD, told Orthopaedics Today Europe.
At the time, orthopaedic surgeons in Denmark also felt it necessary to separate from the surgical society due to traumatology care. There are no traumatologists in Denmark, Schultz Larsen, who is currently vice president of DOS, said.
Regardless of whether the trauma is major or minor, orthopaedic surgeons in Denmark “are responsible for training doctors in the emergency room and [for] the treatment of minor trauma,” Schultz Larsen said.
Klaus Hindsø, PhD, of the Orthopaedic Surgery Clinic at Rigshospitalet, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is the current president of the DOS and heads the DOS board. His term ends in October, when Schultz Larsen, an Orthopaedics Today Europe Editorial Board member, will become president of DOS for a 2-year term.
Members are leaders
Today, the more than 1,300 DOS members are active in international orthopaedic societies of all kinds. For example, Bjarne Møller Madsen, MD, DMSc, of Arhus, Denmark, is immediate past president of the European Pediatric Orthopaedic Society, Schultz Larsen said. The society is also among the orthopaedic societies in Europe that are partnered with the European Federation of National Societies of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT).
“The DOS is EFORT-friendly. We are also active in EFORT. It has been said that Denmark punches above its weight. This also true in EFORT,” Schultz Larsen said.
Active partner with EFORT
To indicate how involved in orthopaedic research and advances Danish orthopaedic surgeons and DOS members are, Schultz Larsen mentioned Denmark was the Scandinavian country with the most abstracts at the recent EFORT Annual Congress.
“We are also active in different committees, like the Trauma Education Group chaired by Ulrich Stöckle, MD, where I am,” Schultz Larsen said.
Per Kjaersgaard-Andersen, MD, Chief Medical Editor of Orthopaedics Today Europe, who is from Vejle, Denmark, is in line to be president of EFORT in 2018 to 2019. He is also a past president of the DOS.
“We have always regarded EFORT as a main international partner,” Schultz Larsen said.
Committees
At its recent meetings, the DOS board has spent time discussing national guidelines and education. When the DOS board met in mid-June, it was scheduled to hear reports from appointed groups that researched and were to present evidence on topics for future national guidelines related to hip arthrosis, for example.
In 2014, the DOS board was involved in presenting a national clinical guideline on distal radius fractures and, this year, DOS has appointed people to work groups for national clinical guidelines for hip arthrosis, meniscal pathology and chronic back pain. Once these are made official, the national guidelines — which are decided upon initially by the Danish health authorities — are usually presented in a symposium at the DOS congress. Short clinical guidelines, for which the DOS decides on the topic and appoints work groups, are presented and approved during the general assembly at the DOS congress each year.
The DOS education subcommittee focuses on all aspects of orthopaedic education in the three educational regions of Denmark, the educational requirements to become a specialist orthopaedist in Denmark, among other areas.
Although continuing medical education and recertification are not currently in place or required in Denmark, Schultz Larsen said both topics are now discussed frequently at the DOS level.
Annual congress
The DOS scientific subcommittee is responsible for organizing the annual congress. The 2016 DOS Annual Congress is scheduled to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel on 26 to 28 October. Each day will include scientific sessions, with invited lectures and symposia held periodically during the 3 days.
Schultz Larsen said in the past, the DOS held a congress semi-annually, but about 10 years ago made the decision to meet annually. The congress is open to everyone, including attendees from outside of Denmark, except for the general assembly. At this year’s general assembly meeting, there will likely be discussions about the possibility and implications for establishing an emergency medicine specialty that might take over emergency department and trauma team activities, which are now provided by orthopaedic surgeons.
Subcommittees hold symposia
Each year at the DOS Annual Congress, an invited guest gives the Guildal Memorial Lecture, which is named for Poul Guildal. Guildal was the head surgeon at Denmark’s largest orthopaedic hospital, the Orthopaedic Hospital in Copenhagen. Guildal died in 1950, but not before he made his mark at the hospital, as well as on the field of orthopaedics throughout Scandinavia. During symposia at the meeting, DOS subcommittees present updates on key topics in the field and then the membership discusses them.
Orthopaedic registers is another area to which the DOS and its members are committed. In Denmark, the registers are mainly based in the public health system, but this is done in cooperation with the DOS, Schultz Larsen said.
“It is a topic we think is important and we support this both for health politics, but also for research,” he said, noting the current registers in Denmark are high-quality.
They include registers of arthroplasty procedures, hip fractures, major trauma, cruciate ligaments and spine procedures.
In the last 10 years, the number of orthopaedic surgeons in Denmark has remained steady, as has the number of DOS surgeon members. This means there about 1,000 orthopaedic surgeons for the 5.5 million people in Denmark, Schultz Larsen said. In the last 20 years, there were times when there were wait lists for orthopaedic procedures, but those wait times have rapidly decreased, he noted. – by Susan M. Rapp
- Reference:
- www.ortopaedi.dk.
- For more information:
- Morten Schultz Larsen, MD, PhD, can be reached at Ida’s Alle’ 3, DK-5250 Odense SV, Denmark; email: msl@dadlnet.dk.
Disclosure: Schultz Larsen reports no relevant financial disclosures.