AO North America - North America Education Committee
by James Kellam, M.D.
 Jim Kellam, with Bruce Mallin, at the 1997 Colorado Springs AO ASIF Course. |
Another change that has occurred over the year is the reorganization of the North American Education Commission. Over the years education has been dominated by the Musculoskeletal Group. As each individual subsection (Maxillofacial, Spine and Veterinary) has gradually grown and become more involved in education, it became necessary to provide them with independent control. This has led to the creation of the North American Education Commission. On this Commission sit the Chairs of the four specialty areas, past chairman of the former N.A.E.C., and exofficio, the coordinator and director of the North American AO Operating Room Personnel courses. This committee will be responsible for the overall management of Continuing AO Education in North America. They, in essence, will be involved in the distribution of courses, the distribution of finances, the evaluation and quality control of continuing medical education and the general aspects of North American AO Education. Each of the specialty groups will be responsible for the coordination and development of their own curriculum, choosing and controlling the faculty, evaluations of faculty and course material, in conjunction with the new Educators Council. It is hoped that this organizational change will allow each of the groups to be more adequately represented and work independently of each other and not be controlled by one specialty group.
We would also like to welcome our newest AO Education Committee which was formed in 1997, the Spine Education Group under Dr. Mitch Harris of L.S.U. With the development of the Worldwide Education Group under Max Aebi and John Webb, the need for regionalization occurred. Because Dr. Mitch Harris is recognized as a leader in education, both from his fracture and spine interest, he was the obvious choice for Chairman of the Spine Education Committee in North America. The members of his committee (listed elsewhere in AONA News) are actively pursuing the development of the Basic Spine Fracture Course as well as the concept of Advanced Spine Courses. This will be an interdisciplinary group involving all the surgeons who are involved in spine fracture care. As we go forward, there will also be the development of degenerative spine lectures and practical exercises.
The final new area of interest is the addition, on a consultative basis, of Carol Hutchison, M.D., FRCSC. Carol is an orthopaedic surgeon who has specialized in education and is Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Toronto. Carol is very interested in the evaluation of surgical teaching, and in particular, skills teaching. Funded by an AO North America educational development grant, Carol has put together a comprehensive and exhaustive study that will answer whether or not the basic AO course can, in essence, teach residents the appropriate basic operative skills in fracture care. This study began at the Toronto Courses in January 1998 and will run through this year. Carol has chosen a group of Orthopaedic Residents who will undergo this study. They are evaluated prior to a course, at the end of the course, then six months later, through objective tests and clinical experience on well validated documentation forms. We hope veIy much that this will prove that we really can do something in education, but, in any case, this will be one of the first studies to attempt to determine the outcome of surgical practical skills courses.
Finally, I would like to thank all of the AO North America members and faculty and the support staff in the Continuing Education Department for their backing in my tenure as Chairman of these Committees.
Special thanks must be expressed to Joan Rousseau and Barbara Brinkman of the C.E.D. office, for without them it is unlikely that any North America AO course could ever be successfully run. We are very privileged to have these two dedicated individuals and their outstanding staff. I would also like to recognize the technical support and unrestricted educational grants provided to AO North America by Synthes (USA). At the Academy meeting in March of 1998, I will relinquish my control of the North American Musculoskeletal Education Committee. For the past several years, it has been a true delight and a very interesting and worthwhile experience for me. I have learned a tremendous amount about education, the AO and interpersonal relationships. I thank you all for your patience and support during this period and look forward to my continued relationship with this group.