Wrap-up of the 2006 Annual General Meeting in Toronto

Emil H. Schemitsch, M.D., FRCSC
Programme Committee Chair 2006 AGM
Toronto, ON

Dear Members,

I would like to take this opportunity to wrap up this year’s Annual Meeting, which was recently held in Toronto from June 2-4. The meeting, by many accounts, was highly successful.

The Local Arrangements Committee, ably Chaired by Dr. Stewart Wright, worked tirelessly over the past year to put on a superb social programme and to ensure that the meeting logistics went without a hitch – and they did! I would also like to thank the Programme Committee members who prepare and recruit for the various educational activities, and the Scientific Committee members who work through the 400 or so abstracts which are received every year for their volunteered time and knowledge. We also ask various members of our Association, on a volunteer basis, to chair sessions or present material on these occasions. Whenever asked, COA members gladly take on these tasks and deliver outstanding quality work for the benefit of the membership. Finally, the meeting is made possible by our healthy relationship with industry partners who support, with no strings attached, our educational and scientific endeavours.

What Did We Change and Accomplish This Year?
For the educational sessions, we emphasized practical, hands-on learning in the form of a Workshop, organized and moderated by Dr. Jim Powell, on computer-assisted hip surgery. There were also five Instructional Course Lectures each day that featured case-based discussions on a wide range of topics. New for 2006 were the Tips & Tricks sessions. There were three concurrent Tips & Tricks sessions, one each on arthroplasty, trauma and sports medicine. During each session, various experts in their field would present a five-minute video clip of a specific procedure followed by a five-minute discussion of the clip. We aimed to present the membership with a variety of common clinical challenges with a view to demonstrating alternate approaches. The Tips & Tricks sessions received the highest reported levels of participant satisfaction in our meeting surveys! Clearly, these sessions were a big success.

This year there were no live surgery presentations. Instead we presented a video-taped live surgery by Dr. Mike McKee on clavicle plating. The efficiency of this type of “live” surgery presentation was found to be beneficial and very cost effective.

We featured three Symposia this year, all ended up being ‘standing room only’. The Private Health Care in Canada? symposium generated a tremendous amount of interest and discussion on Saturday morning. The disparate views of our speakers served to ensure that all sides of this complex issue were aired. The other two Symposia, Femoral Neck Fractures: Controversies and Evidence and Management of Hip and Knee Arthritis in the Young Patient, were very rated very highly by the attendees.

We would appreciate any further general or specific comment about the meeting. This can be done through e-mail ( Cet e-mail est protégé contre les robots collecteurs de mails, votre navigateur doit accepter le Javascript pour le voir ) or by completing one of the evaluation forms available on the COA web site.

http://www.coa-aco.org/en/annual_meetings/meeting_archives/toronto_2006.html

The scientific aspect was once again prepared in combination with the Canadian Orthopaedic Research Society (CORS) where a total of 142 podiums and 105 posters were presented.

Based on the feedback received from attendees, we are pleased to say that the level of educational and scientific content at the COA Annual General Meeting remains high, and that everyone enjoys themselves with their colleagues at the same time.

Chairing this year’s programme was a memorable experience. I was inspired by the dedication put into its preparation, the quality of the presentations, and by the friendly atmosphere that exists at our meetings.

For those members who have not experienced an Annual Meeting in the past 4-5 years, I would urge you to make plans to join us next year in Halifax. I am very certain that you will find it to be a most productive and pleasurable experience.

See you next year in Halifax!