Your COA / Votre association
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You Asked….We Listened
2017 Annual Meeting better caters to ALL COA members Cynthia Vezina Executive Director, Strategic Initiatives Canadian Orthopaedic Association
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he COA’s Program Committee, Continuing Professional Development Committee, Executive and Staff have carefully reviewed your comments and feedback provided through last year’s Annual Meeting evaluation surveys as well as through the discussions that took place during the strategic focus group session also held last June. Although member satisfaction with the Annual Meeting is very high, there is definitely room for improvement to meet the needs of our entire membership regardless of their practice setting. We are taking several of your suggestions into consideration and will be making a few modifications to the 2017 event being held next June in Ottawa. • Later start to morning sessions Sessions will begin at 7:50am on Friday and Saturday, and 8:00am on Sunday morning. This may sound like a simple change but we think that it will be WELL received by all attendees (sessions previously started at 7:00am or earlier!). • ICLs all day Instructional Course Lectures (ICLs) will be offered throughout the entire day of programming – not only first thing in the morning as they were in the past. • No more added fees The additional fees involved with registering for an ICL or Fireside Chat session ($50 and $25 respectively) are no more! Pre-registration is still required to attend an ICL or Fireside Chat session due to limited seating; however, these sessions are now free of charge during the preregistration period (fees apply when registering on site). Be sure to pre-register for the ICLs and Fireside Chats of your choice when you register online. • Less concurrent sessions One of the Annual Meeting’s biggest criticisms for many years has been that there are too many concurrent sessions - members simply can’t attend everything they wanted to because too much is scheduled at the same time. We have restructured this year’s program so that there are less conflicting sessions.
• Sessions for community and academic surgeons New sessions have been added to the 2017 meeting program that will be of interest to surgeons practicing in either a community or an academic setting. Look for sessions highlighting successful models of care, patient outcome measures as well as a two-part session using an interactive audience response system on how to manage and avoid complications in both upper and lower extremity fractures. • More networking time One of the most enjoyable parts of the COA meeting is catching up with colleagues and friends that you don’t have the opportunity to see throughout the year. On Friday evening, cash bars will be set up in the exhibit hall’s poster area for a ‘Poster Pub’ where you can enjoy a drink with colleagues while having designated time to view the poster presentations. We have extended the lunch hour by an extra thirty minutes to allow for additional networking and down time. A huge perk for local surgeons who may still need to tend to real life during the meeting dates. • Learn more about your membership services During an education-based symposium, Bone & Joint Journal Editor in Chief, Professor Fares Haddad, will offer tips on how to prepare your research for publication and a representative from OrthoEvidence will highlight how www.myorthoevidence.com can be used in your practice and CME. Subscription access to both of these educational resources is available through your COA membership. • Be sure to attend the now streamlined COA Business Meeting on Friday morning to find out what initiatives the COA’s Board of Directors and various committees are working on. We are reformatting and modernizing our Business Meeting to better communicate important COA news and programs to our membership. These are only some of the changes and improvements that you will experience at the 2017 COA, CORS and CORA Annual Meeting next June. Look for more information about the program, guest speakers and social events in the next edition of the COA Bulletin or by visiting www.coaannualmeeting.ca.
COA Bulletin ACO - Winter / Hiver 2016/2017