American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society's Annual Summer Meeting Coming to North Carolina

The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) will be holding its

annual summer meeting on June 27-29, 2003 at Hilton Head Island, N.C.

The meeting combines a detailed scientific program, committee

meetings and social events for the 350 doctors, residents and fellows who

will be attending.

The mission of the annual meeting is to provide the physicians who have

dedicated interests in foot and ankle surgery with exposure to new

knowledge, skills and operative techniques that can optimize patient care in

the treatment of foot and ankle disorders. This year, the program, under the

direction of program chair David Thordarson, professor of orthopaedic

surgery, University of Southern California, includes more than 70 presentations

and debates on topics in foot and ankle surgery, as well as discussions over

the future goals of the AOFAS. "There are changes occurring in the AOFAS

that reflect the changes taking place in medical care around the country,"

said president-elect Glen B. Pfeffer MD, of San Francisco.

News releases on highlighted presentation abstracts include the results of a

survey that polled more than 1,000 runners on the injuries incurred due to

running, with information on their running shoes. The other four highlighted

topics are: oxygen levels in the blood and its relation to wound healing in

ankle replacement, effective treatments for arthritis of the big toe, the

success of surgical reconstruction of the foot1s inner tendon and the proven

effectiveness of ankle fusion using the Chevron technique.

The meetings to be held at Hilton Head Island include many of the committees

within the society. Glenn Pfeffer MD, will succeed E. Greer Richardson, MD

of Germantown, Tenn., as president of the AOFAS. Pfeffer notes that

the AOFAS has been in transition so that it can better accommodate the

changing needs in healthcare delivery, medical research and education.

"Membership has grown to meet the public1s demand for high quality foot and

ankle care," Pfeffer said.

The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) is an organization

of more than 1,700 orthopaedic surgeons who have special interest and

training in the foot and ankle. Its members are medical doctors and doctors

of osteopathy who, after completing medical school, have taken at least five

years of additional training to become specialists in the care of diseases

and deformities of the foot and the ankle and their surgical treatment.

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