Quality & Collegiality: A New Standard for Foot & Ankle Conferences

The 2022 American College of Foot & Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) Annual Conference was palpably different from what we’ve all come to expect from the traditional meeting. It was a glimpse at a new model for foot and ankle society meetings, possibly a new standard.

Sure, the juggernauts of the orthopedic industry were there, including Stryker and Synthes, fresh off their recent acquisitions of Wright Medical and CrossRoads Extremity Systems, respectively, as were the so many familiar invited faculty faces.

But, the appeal was the international podiatric and orthopedic faculty sharing the stage for the first time, the new lecture tracts led by younger, not-so-familiar faces highlighting research on healthcare cost effectiveness, and the introduction, or rather re-introduction, of Don Joy Orthopedics (DJO). It was the new innovations, product unveiling(s) and the sheer number of companies and industry reps in the bustling exhibit hall. It was the quality, evidence-based content and the spirited debates which carried over into evenings of collegial networking, and possibly, change.

Quality & collegiality

The humbling nature of foot and ankle surgery requires a collaboration between various educational backgrounds where the best ideas, most impactful research, and proven treatments(s) prevail. And in turn, the patients win.

Traditional society meeting models have long maintained division between podiatric and orthopedic surgeons. Whether it's economics, ego, and/or egalitarianism, maybe it's time we all focus in on what should unite us: the patients.