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AOAA Germany annual meeting In early March, the AO Alumni Association Germany Chapter held its
annual meeting in the Wappensaal (coat of arms room) of historic Wartburg Castle. Michael Erler organized the event and Tim Pohlemann opened the proceedings with a state-of-the-art lecture on injuries to the pelvis and related concepts of care. Theddy Slongo looked at injuries to children and teenagers and discussed conservative and operative treatment options. The meeting provided the perfect environment for alumni members to openly exchange ideas and case examples. Participants enjoyed an evening celebration to mark the AO Alumni Association’s 20th anniversary this year. They also admired an exhibition entitled “Bewegung” (movement), sponsored by AOAA Germany, featuring 57 quilts that will be sold to raise funds for health projects in Malawi.
AOLAT Honorary Memberships In Davos in December, AO Latin
America President Carlos Sancineto paid tribute to AOLAT’s newly elected honorary members, James Kellam and Chris van der Werken, both AO Foundation Past-Presidents. The annual memberships demonstrate AOLAT’s gratitude for outstanding contributions by individuals to the Region’s development and evolution. Previous AOLAT Honorary Members Thomas Rüedi, Jesse Jupiter, and Urs Jann attended the celebration. Chris van der Werken first visited Latin America in 1996 as an invited guest of an AO Alumni Association (AOAA) meeting in Cartagena, Colombia. He has returned to the Region several times since then. Jim Kellam’s most important trip to the Region was to Puna Cana in the Dominican Republic. A hurricane delayed the third AOAA meeting by a month, but nevertheless he lent his support to the rescheduled event, one of the most successful meetings in the Region.
TK Innovation Prize 2008 The Technical Commissions and Specialty Expert Groups (TK-
System) have given their highest accolade, the TK Innovation Prize 2008 to Alberto Fernandez Dell’Oca from Montevideo, Uruguay, for his numerous contributions to the improvement of patient care. Norbert Haas and Pietro Regazzoni hosted the awards ceremony held in Davos on the occasion of a dinner for the chairmen of the TK Specialty Expert Groups. Alberto Fernandez was praised as a “lateral thinker”, a person who always questions established assertions and is unafraid to wander off the beaten track. He not only generates new ideas, it was said, but also possesses the assertiveness to convince others and to realize these new concepts. A brilliant surgeon-engineer, Dr Dell’Oca has over the years developed an incredible number of ingenious tools to faciliate surgical procedures.
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