Board of Councilors Report

Wilford K. Gibson, MD

I hope everyone had a meaningful holiday season and good start for the New Year.  In my last report, I discussed the Fall Meeting of the Board of Councilors in Dallas.  Since that time, I have been asked by members and our VOS board to share more about the 37 point test of the state orthopaedic societies and give my opinion on where we stand.        
 
I participate on the BOC State Orthopaedic Societies Committee that created and implemented the survey.  Of the 50 states, there were 42 that responded.  The survey consisted of 37 questions about the society such as:  How many dues-paying members do you have?  How much are the annual dues?  Do you hold an annual meeting?  Do you have a newsletter?  Does your society maintain a website?  Does your society have a written set of bylaws?  Does your society have a strategic plan?  Does your society have an executive director?  Does your society have a lobbyist?  Without listing all 37 questions, I think you get the picture.  Most answers were yes or no, but many of the answers were stratified and points were assigned.  For instance, states were grouped by number of dues paying members:  large (greater than 400), medium (200-400) and small (less than 200).  Overall, we ranked 8th of 16 medium states with a reported membership of 290.  There were 6 large states with membership ranging from 438 in New Jersey to 2,100 in California.  I believe this verifies we are a solid organization, but it also identifies some areas for improvement.  The AAOS reports 453 Fellows in Virginia, indicating that there are 163 who are not members of VOS.  Our 290 dues paying members rank us 14th out of the 42 states responding with a range from zero to 2,100.  Our $250 annual dues placed us 20th out of the 42 respondents.  The range was from zero to $475.  Our annual meeting average attendance of 75 placed us 17th of those states having a scientific meeting with a range of 50 to 325.  We did not report having a strategic plan, and I believe this is something we should put into writing and distribute to our membership.  The framework could be as simple as saying our mission is to provide continuing education, advocacy and a social network for our members with an annual scientific meeting to improve the quality and delivery of orthopaedic care in Virginia.  There are 16 states with a strategic plan, and I believe a well conceived mission and strategic plan would move us up into this group.  It would let us all know who we are as an organization and where we want to go.  The recent controversy over the AAOS position on emergency room call demonstrates the wide varieties in opinions among orthopaedic surgeons in the AAOS.  Fortunately, through the Board of Councilors and a grass roots effort of the state orthopaedic societies, we were able to soften the position of the recommendation to the AAOS board and obtain a position that the majority can agree upon.  During these times when podiatrists are filling orthopaedic foot and ankle fellowships, general surgeons are filling orthopaedic hand and trauma fellowships, hospitals and multi-specialty groups are hiring orthopaedic surgeons and total joint fellowships are going unfilled, we need to take a good look at who we are and where we want to go, or it will be decided for us.  We may not have the same opinions, but we need to have all orthopaedic surgeons in Virginia among our ranks and hear everyone’s voice!

I hope you enjoy the BOC Report as a new feature of our VOS newsletter. I look forward to reporting the Board of Councilors activities from the recent AAOS meeting in Las Vegas in the next newsletter.  Also, mark your calendars now to attend the VOS Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach May 1-3, 2009.

Respectfully,
Wilford K. Gibson, MD
Councilor