Latest News

The BOA runs a wide range of courses under the Education Committee. These courses cater to the educational needs of a wide range of members (and nonmembers in some cases) at all stages of their careers.

This course is designed to help members prepare for the new curriculum in 2022 and learn how to supervise trainees to be the very best they can be. We have two remaining dates for the small-group virtual TOES courses in 2022. For more information or to book, please visit www.boa.ac.uk/toes.

The underlying premise of TOTs is that if T&O trainers understand how people learn and how the T&O curriculum works, by translating that understanding into action, they should be able to improve their teaching. Further information or to book is available at www.boa.ac.uk/tots.

We have one remaining course date in 2022 for this popular course specifically designed to highlight potential pitfalls in practice from the medico-legal perspective and to help steer surgeons away from potential jeopardy.

The course is aimed at consultants, SAS doctors and orthopaedic trainees who want to gain knowledge of the elements of law which underpin contemporary surgical practice. Full details can be found at www.boa.ac.uk/law-fororthopaedic-surgeons.

As part of our new partnership with Nottingham Clinical Trials Unit (NCTU), we are delighted to offer some new opportunities for BOA members and associates to undertake courses about clinical trials and systematic review free of charge.

NCTU and the BOA are offering a limited number of fully funded places for BOA Members on two NCTU short courses.

• Nottingham Systematic review course 4-day course: 28th June – 1st July 2022 (Normally £985)

• Introduction to Statistics 3-day course: 4th - 6th July 2022 (Normally £480)

For further course information, eligibility criteria and how to apply, please visit the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/NCTU-research-courses.

The UK National Osteoporosis Guideline Group (NOGG) has just launched its new UK Guideline for ‘The Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis’, which has been endorsed by NICE. The guideline can be found on a brand-new website at www.nogg.org.uk, which also houses a range of useful resources, a two-page summary of the main recommendations and FAQs.

The BOA has been working with BSSH, BAPRAS and the Ukrainian Association of Orthopedists- Traumatologists (YAOT) to deliver a series of webinars to support our Ukrainian colleagues with managing complex trauma/pathology. There has been very good uptake and we have received really positive feedback, and we will continue this initiative as long as it serves a useful role. The recordings of the webinars can be viewed on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/UkraineWebinars.

The dates for this year’s UKITE are 9th - 16th December 2022. The UKITE is an online annual assessment that allows trainees of all grades to practice for Part 1 of the FRCS (Tr and Orth) examination, with similar formatted questions based on the UK and Ireland T&O Curriculum. Information on UKITE is available on the BOA website www.boa.ac.uk/ukite.

Having initially been delayed by the COVID pandemic, NICE have published a new joint replacement quality standard for hip, knee and shoulder. The standard can be viewed at www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs206.

The new ‘Culture & Diversity (C&D) Champions’ are representatives of BOA and BOTA and will work together to encourage, inspire and stimulate positive change in work culture and to build a more diverse and inclusive environment for our specialty. The C&D Champions will be a point of contact for junior and senior T&O surgeons within their region promoting a more diverse and inclusive community within T&O that accurately reflects the population we care for.

An election was held in February to elect representatives for each region and the BOA and BOTA are pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations to all our C&D Champions:

East Midlands: Rosie Gnap & Sheikh Nomaan; East of England: Rachel Clegg & Ghulam Abbas; North East: Sarah Johnson-Lynn; North West & Mersey: Kohila Vani Sigamoney, Tony Clayson, Hannah Sevenoaks & Theophilus Asumu; Northern Ireland: Fazal Hassan & Ravikanth Pagoti; Scotland: Jennifer Cherry & Thisara Chamupathie Weerasuriya; South West (Peninsula): Kimberley Shuttlewood; London: Kate Atkinson; Kent, Surrey, Sussex: Zaid Ali & Ogho Obakponovwe; Thames Valley: Asanka Wijendra & Salma Chaudhury; Wales: Yusuf Mirza & Kodali Prasad; Wessex: Saharish Saleem & Joanna Higgins; West Midlands: Alastair Stephens & Kowshik Jain; Yorkshire & Humber: Sohail Nisar & Elizabeth Moulder

The following roles are still vacant: North East – Junior; South West (Peninsula) – Senior; South West (Severn) – Junior and Senior; London – Senior.

Details on how these roles will be filled will be available soon on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/C&D-champions.

We are pleased to announce the addition of two new BOASTs (BOA Standards), each considering aspects of paediatric orthopaedic care.

This BOAST was jointly developed by the BOA and the British Society for Children’s Orthopaedic Surgery (BSCOS) and the British Paediatric Allergy, Immunity and Infection Group (BPAIIG). This document considers the initial diagnosis, special investigations, and surgical and non-surgical management of children with osteo-articular and soft tissue infection. This is an important consensus document that will reduce variance and encourage the multidisciplinary management of these patients.

You can view the full document at www.boa.ac.uk/children- MSK-infection.

This BOAST was jointly developed by the BOA, the British Society for Children’s Orthopaedic Surgery (BSCOS), and the British Association for Surgery of the Knee (BASK). It suggests the skill set required to manage this patient group, in addition to providing advice on the diagnosis, special investigations and operative and non-operative management. It makes general recommendations about the operative detail and stresses the importance of surveillance until skeletal maturity.

View the full document at www.boa.ac.uk/paediatric-ACL.

All BOASTs – including Trauma, Elective and Speciality – can be found on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/boasts.

New dates now available for the popular SAS Professional Development Programme! As an SAS T&O surgeon this is your chance to maximise your untapped potential and help you develop professionally and personally.

• Session One – Polishing Your Portfolio – Wednesday 29th June 2022

• Session Two – Selecting and Engaging with Mentors, Supervisors and Sponsor – Tuesday 26th July 2022

• Session Three – Stepping up to the Training Plate – Tuesday 30th August 2022

“It was well organised to the needs of SAS doctors. Pre-course work and feedback was very valuable. It was interactive and relevant burning questions could be asked.”

“This course has given me an insight to my own abilities and within a short period of time has generated an action plan for me to work on to achieve my goal.”

Book now for the BOA Virtual Ortho Update Course to establish strong foundations for practice and assessment, and prepare for the FRCS exam. The course provides curriculum driven clinical updates and critical condition assessment opportunities aimed at T&O trainees and SAS surgeons. Further information can be found at www.boa.ac.uk/OrthoUpdate.