President's Column

After another successful Annual Meeting at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, we begin the new year of events for the Michigan Orthopaedic Society.  Steve Lemos put together a great meeting with Jay Parvisi and Rich Iorio as our keynote speakers, and organized a thought provoking session on shoulder, trauma and knee problems on Friday afternoon led by many experts in their specialties.   The residents from 17 programs in Michigan submitted over 100 abstracts from their research papers.  More than 50 abstracts were selected and presented at the podium on Saturday and Sunday. 

During the last year, under the leadership of Andy Urquhart as President, and with the diligent work of the Board of the MOS, our society was voted the “State Society of the Year” by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.  A plaque announcing the award was presented at the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. in May and the award will be featured in the next edition of AAOS Now.  We, the members of the Michigan Orthopaedic Society have a lot of reasons to be proud of our association– and I am proud to accept from Andy Urquhart the Presidency for 2016 -17.

At the point when everything seems to be going the best, business leaders advise that a careful and thorough evaluation is necessary to know how to change an organization for the future.  There is no doubt that the practice of orthopaedic surgery is changing rapidly with patient reported outcomes, satisfaction surveys and bundled payments, to name just a few new requirements brought to all of our attention.  It is time for the MOS to review all of our achievements and past involvements from educational offerings, lobbying efforts and to our outreach to the residency programs in the State.

While older members are quite comfortable with the organization as it is today, we must begin the process of changing to meet the needs of our younger members and those who will be members in the not-too-distant future – our orthopaedic residents.  I am asking that we survey the younger members asking, “What would you like the MOS to do to make your practice of orthopaedic surgery more enjoyable and rewarding?”  If you have ideas please let me know at jdblaha@med.umich.edu.

The MOS in 2026-27 (ten years in the future) must look different than the one we have today.  If we continue to evolve to meet the needs of our future members that will make a meaningful difference, the Michigan Orthopaedic Society can look forward to always being one of the best state associations in the country.

J. David Blaha, MD
President of the MOS
2016-2017