Orthopaedic Leadership: W2 or WMD?<cross-ref type="fn" refid="fn1">*</cross-ref>

Abstract

Distinguished leaders of the American Orthopaedic Association, guests, and ladies and gentlemen: I come to you humbled by the honor and privilege to serve as the 118th president of the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA)—the association of orthopaedic leaders. Like all others who have served before me, I owe the honor to those who have preceded me. I am thankful to God for the direct calling into the medical profession. I stand here today because of His guidance, protection, and direction. I owe much to those who were influential in my career: Fred Elliott, J. Paul Harvey, Sig Hansen, Bob Winquist, Dan Spengler, Mike Copass, Roby Thompson, and to the great foundation that has been given to me in a career as an orthopaedic trauma surgeon. My partner of thirty-three years, Beth, and our children have given me much support and have sacrificed a lot. I am grateful to them. The hard work in patient care, teaching, and research has been rewarding. The ultimate reward is the pulpit I have been given in front of the orthopaedic leaders of much of the world. I intend not to waste it and to speak to a phenomenon that I have witnessed evolving at an exponential rate over the last decade—the criteria for orthopaedic leadership. One of the duties and privileges that one takes on as First Vice President is the receipt of the copies of all 117 AOA presidential addresses—all thirty pounds of them. I enjoyed reading them and can attest to the dramatic range of topics. Seventeen presidents spoke on clinical issues; seventeen, on an aspect of orthopaedic history; seventeen, on issues related to specialization; nine, on medical education; thirty-seven, on issues related to AOA affairs; and eighteen, on controversial topics within the socioeconomic area of our specialty. More recently, presidents have …