A Look Back on the 99th Presidential Year
COS Past President L. Andrew Koman, MD presents the Dr. and Mrs. J. Elmer Nix Ethics Award to Chitranjan S. Ranawat, MD at the 99th Annual Meeting in Charleston, SC
in September.
By L. Andrew Koman, MD
COS Past President
Looking back over the last year has been very interesting. We saw the recession fade only to see it slightly return. Orthopaedics, for the second year in a row, had over 50% of orthopaedic surgeons finishing fellowships with employed relationships by hospitals, academic medical centers or the government.
We witnessed dramatic changes between industry and orthopaedic surgeons secondary to The Department of Justice Investigations and ongoing societal demands for the elimination or transparency of conflicts of interest and commitment. The result was continued flat membership, mediocre educational support from industry, and an aging membership.
As the Clinical Orthopaedic Society enters its 100th year, we can look forward to a fabulous meeting in Chicago. We have significant budgetary concerns related to the number of active members, a reliance on industry support, a shift of membership to specialty societies (with concern over the cost of multidisciplinary societies such as the COS) and the impact of "employment."
The meeting in Charleston was an academic success but was fiscally neutral. Drs. Chitranjan Ranawat, James Nunley, and Lee Osterman gave outstanding lectures and scientific presentations. As impressive were the scientific talks by our members, guests, and the resident fellows that attended.
I have been honored to serve as your 99th President and look forward to the future. However, as an organization, we must look to the future as well as our past, and strive to deliver value to our members and future guests.
I hope this message finds you in good health and I look forward to seeing each of you in Chicago.
