Whistler Wrap-up
great weather, great program 

Doug Thomson
CEO, Canadian Orthopaedic Association

In early July, some 300 active members and about as many allied health professionals, residents, spouses, exhibitors and senior members made the trek up BC's Sunshine Coast to Whistler, site of the 64^th COA and 43^rd CORS Annual Meetings. And, indeed, the sun did shine every day of our stay, except the last, showing off the resort to its best advantage. After dark, as if on cue from the BC tourist bureau, a full moon would rise in the star-lit night sky - most memorably observed during the hoedown at the Roundhouse high atop Mt. Whistler.  

Carved by the lumberjacks during the logging show at the Roundhouse Lodge.

As always at our Annual Meetings, education was the main event, which meant turning your back on the fresh air and scenery, and spending some time (actually, quite a lot of time, given the depth and breadth of the program) in the windowless rooms at Whistler's conference centre. In his role as program chair, Dr. Pierre Guy, along with co-chair Dr. Bob Hawkins, designed a program that offered members an unprecedented level of choice. The program stats are telling. With as many as six concurrent sessions there was something for everybody, no matter what your subspecialty. In all, there were 204 podium presentations and 152 posters (chosen from a record 515 abstracts submitted last Fall). Indeed, the program had so much content - including a subspecialty half-day, three hands-on workshops and eight symposia - the 18 instructional course lectures had to start each day of the meeting at the rather ungodly hour of 6:30 in the morning. 

Dr. Robert N. Meek, Local Arrangements Committee Chair and Master of Ceremonies.

• Models of Care (moderated by Drs. Cy Frank and Jim Waddell)
• War Surgery (moderated by Dr. John Cinats)
• International Orthopaedics (moderated by Drs. Peter O'Brien and Lew Zirkle)
• Early Hip Osteoarthritis (moderated by Dr. David Wilson)
• Intimate Partner Violence (moderated by Dr. Mohit Bhandari)
• The CORA Career Development Symposium
• Osteoporosis and Falls (moderated by Dr. Pierre Guy)
• Non-Surgical Alternatives in the Arthritic Knee (moderated by Dr.Bob Lichfield)

All of the symposia, with the exception of War Injuries and the CORA Career Development Symposium, are available for viewing as webcasts on the COA web site, thanks to a new education grant from MEDEC member companies.

Two awards of distinction were presented by Dr. O'Brien. Dr. Paul Wright received the COA Presidential Award of Merit - a well-deserved recognition for his many years' hard work and dedication on behalf of Association members. (Ever energetic, Paul interrupted his cross-country bicycle marathon to be in Whistler.) Dr. James Waddell received the Presidential Award of Excellence for his innumerable contributions to orthopaedic research and education, as well as to the COA. Dr. O'Brien also recognized Dr. Waddell's leadership role for nearly a decade at Bone & Joint Canada.

Chor Leoni performing at the Opening Ceremonies.

Cynthia Vezina from the COA office was also presented with a 'ten years of service award' and congratulated for her continued support and hard work that she provides to the Association and its members.

The Whistler meeting was a bit of an exception to most COA Annual Meetings, with its resort setting and July date. Several attendees asked about how these changes came about and their effect on attendance. Here's the lowdown:

In 2005, the COA conducted a relatively large survey of member's attitudes and opinions on a wide range of issues and topics. The results of that survey led to several actions by the Association. We recognized that government relations and advocacy were at the top of a new list of strategic priorities and hired Dennis Jeanes, as a full-time Manager of Communications and Advocacy - a decision that, so far, has proven its value.

View from the Lumberjack's Ball on Whistler Mountain.

Also, based on member response, we decided to experiment with a July Annual Meeting in a vacation-type location. So how did it turn out? The results were mixed, I'd have to say. Attendance was down about 10% from our last two Annual Meetings, and we weren't successful in attracting many members who haven't been to a Meeting in the last five years. Also, our industry partners were burdened by a very significant increase in their freight costs to move their exhibit materials in and out of Whistler. We did, however, increase the number of residents attending the meeting, and there were certainly more families this year.

Nevertheless, we've decided to revert to a June meeting date in 2010, and, perhaps more importantly, look at program enhancements to attract more non-academic community surgeons to the meeting. Stay tuned for news on this front, and don't hesitate to contact me or any member of the COA Board if you have any ideas about the Annual Meeting that you'd like to share.

Overall, your ratings and comments about the Whistler meeting have been very positive and encouraging. A big thank-you is especially owed to Dr. Bob Meek for his tremendous work organizing the overall meeting. Whistler lived up to its reputation for hospitality and outdoors fun, and the education program set a new benchmark for content.

See you next year in Edmonton!

The COA would like to extend its sincere appreciation to the orthopaedic industry members of MEDEC