What's New
Incoming President Gary S. Ulrich's Address During Annual Banquet, Thursday, October 20, 2011
It is with great honor and humility that I accept the office of President of the AOAO for the next year. Since I have been on the Board of Directors there has been much change, effort and progress in our Academy. This leads me to reflect on our Academy and to offer some perspective on where we have been, where we are and where we are going.
The American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics was formed in 1941 by a group of ten surgeons who were interested in orthopedics. This initial meeting occurred at the Detroit Osteopathic Hospital in Michigan, which itself has a storied history. One of the founding fathers of our organization, Dr. J. Paul Leonard, became the first Executive Director of the group and shortly thereafter residency programs were started as a way of training surgeons in orthopedic surgery. Another of the original members of the AOAO was Dr. Clybourne, who started the Columbus program and the Clybourne Society, which is still an active group that meets regularly at our annual meetings. Dr. James Eaton penned the first bylaws and mission statement of the AOAO, which in essence concentrated on educating surgeons in the field of orthopedic surgery.
In 1976, the group was formerly known as an orthopedic academy and it was about that time that Dr. Don Siehl became the Executive Director. Dr. Siehl is also well known as being a trainer of many residents and there is currently an accomplishment award named after him. In 1991, Dr. Morton Morris was our esteemed Executive Director who advocated CME programs, relationships with the AOA and specialty groups. He also lead to the development of the sections within the academy in various orthopedic subspecialties and was very concerned with resident training programs. In 1976, the Award of Fellow was initiated by the academy. This recognized members who made significant contributions to the academy.
As Dante Alighieri stated, "The secret of getting things done is to act." Currently our board has a new mission which is much more concise and direct than the original. Essentially, it strives to facilitate the finest training and continuous development of osteopathic orthopedic surgeons in an effort to positively improve the care, healing and quality of life of our patients. Basic tenants include priorities involving the educational process, advocacy, outreach, professional development and academy resources.
The current board of directors is a group of very talented individuals who are dynamic and committed to the pursuit of progress. Currently we have initiated the Resident and Fellow Conference, which had its first meeting in Chicago. We will continue to foster resident development. As George Bernard Shaw said, "We are made wise not by the recollection of our past but the responsibility of our future." Where we are going is exciting and uncharted. Our younger members are connected with social medial including Twitter, Facebook and smart phones. We need to continue to advocate our Academy with the American Osteopathic Association. We need to pursue CAQ for various specialty groups. We need to have relationships with the American Osteopathic Board of Orthopedic Surgery as we develop our continuous certification process. CME continues to be the founding principle for which our organization is known.
During this next year, I hope to facilitate, communicate, and advocate for our Academy. To digress, I became involved in the board via my involvement with the CME programs. All that time we were beginning to reorganize our CME programs in that we had various sessions simultaneously ongoing so that members could choose areas of interest as these related to their practices. Dr. Richard Scott, my trainer at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital and Bi-County Community Hospital in the late 1980s, encouraged me to get involved with the Academy, to give lectures, to be on committees, and to be involved in board exams. This led me on a path to this presidency. My undergraduate education was completed at Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. I graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a sports medicine fellowship at Michigan State University. Currently I practice in Terre Haute, Indiana.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge my family and the support they have given me during the eighteen years of my practice life. They have made the journey worthwhile and rewarding. Lastly, we must be honored and humbled by the ability and training we receive to take care of our patients. We need to take a step back and not treat our patients as a shoulder or knee, but as an individual, each with different needs, circumstances, and concerns. If we do these things, our practices will be much more rewarding. As always, the AOAO's main focus over the next years will be to continue to educate our surgeons so that we may provide better patient care.
Thank you for allowing me to serve.
Fraternally Yours,
Gary S. Ulrich, D.O., F.A.C.O.S., F.A.O.A.O.