A Year to Remember

Robert B. Bourne, M.D., FRCSC
President, Canadian Orthopaedic Association

It was a pleasure to see so many Canadian Orthopaedic Association members at the COA reception held during the AAOS Annual Meeting in Chicago. The Academy deserves a great deal of credit for dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the need to relocate their meeting from New Orleans to Chicago. Despite this, AAOS attendance was the largest ever and Chicago as a venue drew rave reviews.

During the past year, I have had the opportunity to meet with our sister association presidents and discuss orthopaedic issues from an international perspective. Not surprisingly, there are many common themes with challenges in health care funding, private versus public care, ever increasing subspecialization, orthopaedic surgeons' relationship with industry, and codes of ethics. While the COA membership is showing leadership in each of these areas, it seems wise to keep attuned to novel approaches used in other countries to address these issues.

With Spring upon us, our thoughts now turn to our own Annual Meeting which will be held in Toronto from June 2-4, 2006. I would like to thank Dr. Stewart Wright and his Local Arrangements Committee for organizing what promises to be a truly outstanding meeting, culminating in a fun filled gala evening titled "The Streets of Toronto". Special thanks also go out to the Programme Committee, chaired by Dr. Emil H. Schemitsch, for putting together a most innovative programme that you will not want to miss. A special part of this meeting will be a symposium on "Private Health Care in Canada?" featuring excellent speakers (Margaret Wente, Drs. Ruth Collins-Nakai, Brian Day, Robert R.Y. McMurtry, Robert B. Hollinshead and Cy Frank) which you will want to attend.

As this will be my last Presidential Message published in the Bulletin, Donna and I would like to thank you for the opportunity of representing the COA over the past year. Canadian orthopaedics is held in the highest esteem around the world! Our organization is strong thanks to the commitment of our membership, committee members and staff: Yuri and Cynthia, under the capable leadership of our CEO, Doug Thomson. It will be an honour for Donna and I to turn over our badges of office to Brendan and Dolores Lewis who we know will do an outstanding job over the upcoming year.

We hope to see you in Toronto!