How long have you been involved with the AO Foundation and in what roles?

 

My first contact with the AO Foundation was in 1981 when I was doing my residency. My program director and chairman had been to Davos for the course and brought an AO book and a femoral intramedullary nail instrumentation set back with him, so it was there I began my training in the AO technique.

 

In 1988 I attended my very first course, and Howard Rosen was my table instructor. He was based in New York. We bonded and he became a mentor to me. I then became a table instructor, before moving further into lecturing, and joining committees in AO North America.

 

When AOSpine became a legal entity in 2003 I was on the original North America board and was subsequently elected chairman of AOSpine North America in 2006.

 

Back then, when we had just started out, a lot of the societies thought we were an arm of Synthes. We had to prove our “We had to prove our independence and our reputation. We worked hard to show people that we were an independent organization and, importantly, an independent academic research organization.”independence and our reputation. We worked hard to show people that we were an independent organization and, importantly, an independent academic research organization. We are now accepted as academic organization and in the same academic realm as North America Research Societies and International Lumbar Spine. We are not viewed as an arm of our industrial partner. It was our independence that gave us the opportunity to achieve this perception shift, but we still have work to do to ensure everyone understands that we are an independent research and academic organization.

 

What is your vision for AOSpine, in particular when it comes to education and research, and what are your expectations?

 

I think that innovations are going to be the challenge. There a lot of other organizations that have been studying education. A number of the things that are being taught were innovations developed by the AO. A lot of other players have tagged along with us. We need to make sure we stay innovative and keep changing: we will be overtaken if we rest on our laurels. In spine, if you look at simulation, our models are extremely anatomically correct. Simulation is going to be even more important to us in the future. The old adage of “see one, do one, teach one” is falling by the wayside.

 

In research, we have to be vigilant about staying innovative. We have to look at where the big innovations are taking place. We’ve got screws, rods, and plates, but the biology will be the thing in the future: looking at correcting problems through genetic programming and stem cells.

 

What are the challenges for the AO and what is your recommendation for AOSpine to play an even greater role among spine societies?

 

I think that we face a number of challenges, but the central one will be maintaining our reputation as independent. Especially when it comes to education and research it is important that the surgeons and academic societies understand we are totally independent, as we are creating knowledge we can provide to our members.

 

We made a concerted effort to position AOSpine as one of the innovative spine organizations, and we were successful—we made that jump and are now accepted as an academic organization, as the “The Global Spine Congress took a while to gain traction, but it is now one of the accepted international meetings from the spine standpoint. The research that is being presented at the congress is top quality.”Global Spine Congress (GSC) shows. It is a one-of-a-kind event, and we took the innovative approach of having rotating host cities—so it moves around the globe. Jeffrey Wang did excellent work on this, and as a result we are seeing increasing numbers of participants each year. The GSC took a while to gain traction, but it is now one of the accepted international meetings from the spine standpoint. The research that is being presented at the GSC is top quality.

 

Where do you see particular challenges for AOSpine?

 

We needed to be agile, nimble, creative, and also had to be able to get our messages across more effectively.

 

There are communications challenges that remain to this day. We have to adapt to these challenges to ensure that our structure will be able to ensure that once a decision has been taken the information is disseminated in a quick and seamless manner.

 

What message would you like to convey to AOSpine members?

 

The AOSpine organization for the spine members should be their main means of gaining up-to-date spinal education.

 

AOSpine should be the go-to organization when you look for new innovative procedures that are being done, the most recent education/research findings within a research environment.

 

What does being a member of the AO Foundation mean to you personally?

 

AOSpine gave me the opportunity to have interaction with a group of likeminded surgeons from around the world. The spine community is a small group when you really look at it.

 

There is no other opportunity like that to meet surgeons from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia Pacific, or Latin America. We can call each other if we have a problem, as these really are close relationships, and I can just drop them a line or pick up a phone and say “Hey, I've got a problem I need help with”. I “There are communications challenges that remain to this day. We have to adapt to these challenges to ensure that our structure will be able to ensure that once a decision has been taken the information is disseminated in a quick and seamless manner.”would never have had that opportunity had it not been for AOSpine.

 

That concept of friendship is what the organization was based on 60 years ago. It had a flat hierarchy, you could discuss complications and look at things very directly: that has continued through spine. AOSpine also offers the opportunity for mentorship, something I would like to see as the 5th pillar of our organization. We have a tremendous amount of intellectual wealth thanks to our senior members, and we need mentorship so as not to lose it. It is essential both to retain this senior talent while also attracting and nurturing younger generations.

 

AOSpine also gave me the opportunity to move up through the AO Foundation’s leadership. When I first started in the organization, I did not start by saying “I want to be President”, but I was given opportunities to take on leadership positions in different areas, and that is the beauty of this system—it offers you those opportunities.

 

And the most unique aspect of all this is that we are volunteers: we are working to build this education process, to impart our knowledge to other surgeons who may not have the experience we have. That’s what makes our organization so strong and vibrant.