The AAOS Resident Assembly

The Resident Assembly (RA) serves as an organized venue within the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) to engage, educate, and represent orthopaedic residents while developing future AAOS members and leaders. Orthopaedic residents have historically engaged the AAOS through the Committee Appointment Program (CAP) and Resident Liaison program. However, these opportunities were limited and did not take full advantage of interested residents and their talents. The CAP selected one resident for a 2-year commitment and provided no alternatives for those who were not selected. The Resident Liaison program designated one resident per residency program to receive information from the AAOS at the Annual Meeting and through emails to share with members of his or her entire residency program. Although well supported by the AAOS, the Resident Liaison program lacked opportunities for active engagement and provided only one-way communication from the AAOS. Despite resident and leadership desires to increase participation, the trend over the past several years was, in fact, decreased participation. Many residency programs did not even select a resident liaison to represent the program within the AAOS. The CAP still exists, but the Resident Liaison program was discontinued in 2014. In 2011, the AAOS Candidate, Resident, and Fellow Committee (CRFC) created a resident workgroup to address the issue of resident engagement in the AAOS. This workgroup was composed of residents from across the country who reviewed other medical specialty society programs for residents and began structuring a democratic group made up of orthopaedic residents for orthopaedic residents. To determine the potential need, the AAOS RA workgroup distributed a national survey to orthopaedic residents-in-training and received 1,052 responses (20%). More than 81% of respondents were “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in the creation of a democratic group for residents within the AAOS. If the democratic group was open to all residents, as well, more than 75% of respondents said they would be likely to attend the annual RA meeting and participate in RA activities. Another survey by the AAOS sent to 194 residency program directors received 69 responses (35%). Most of the program directors who responded (55/69 [81%]) said they would be “very likely” or “likely” to send residents to a democratic resident council at the Academy’s Annual Meeting. Both of these surveys provided sufficient evidence demonstrating that such a democratic entity not only had ground level support but was also feasible. In July 2013, the Resident Workgroup convened in Chicago to outline the structure of the future AAOS RA. During 2013-2014, the detailed structure of the RA was defined with guidance from the AAOS Education Council and AAOS legal counsel. The final Policies and Procedures document of the AAOS RA was approved by the AAOS Board of Directors in 2014. The RA is open to all orthopaedic residents-in-training in the United States of America and Canada. There are no dues, applications, or membership fees associated with becoming a member of the RA. One resident delegate from each residency program is chosen by the members of his or her residency program to represent that residency program at the RA Annual Meeting, which coincides with the AAOS Annual Meeting. Five committees, which any resident can join, collaborate with similar committees within the AAOS: the Education Committee, Health Policy Committee, Technology Committee, Practice Management Committee, and Research Committee. AAOS staff liaisons work with each committee to help engage residents and provide support for various projects. The resident chairs of these committees, along with two resident members-at-large, and a chair, vice-chair, and past-chair, make up the RA Executive Committee, which oversees all RA activities. The RA will continue to develop its role as an advisory body within the AAOS. The residents will address issues at the request of the AAOS and develop their own action items to present to the AAOS leadership, similar to the Board of Counselors and Board of Specialty Societies. The RA is also working to create the “Resident Bowl,” which will allow residents from across the country the opportunity to network and compete in friendly competition at the AAOS Annual Meeting. In addition, the RA will work with the AAOS Annual Meeting Committee to ensure that resident engagement at AAOS educational offerings, such as the Annual Meeting, is optimized for residents. Most RA communications and business will be performed through a virtual presence on a resident-specific portion of the new AAOS website. Committees will meet through online webinars and conference calls throughout the year. The activities of the AAOS RA will be completely resident directed, led by the RA Executive Committee, with oversight from the AAOS CRFC. The RA is the first democratic entity created for orthopaedic residents. It was born from a grassroots movement to engage and involve residents in larger AAOS issues and will serve the important role of an advising body to the AAOS Board of Directors. In addition to opening the lines of communication to residents, it will also serve in the development of future leaders of the AAOS. The creation of the AAOS RA has resulted from contributions made by many people. We particularly wish to acknowledge the following persons and thank them for their time, service, and participation through meetings, workgroups, and committees: Lara Atwater, MD, Jason Bariteau, MD, Jeremy Burnham, MD, Stephen Duncan, MD, Brandon Erickson, MD, Kristen Erickson, Rachel Frank, MD, Brian Grawe, MD, Joshua Hunter, MD, Chad Krueger, MD, Daniel Kang, MD, Dan Master, MD, Brent Morris, MD, Richard J. Peterson, JD, Joseph Petfield, MD, Daniel Prince, MD, Mike Rozell, MD, and Erin Volland.

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