President's Message

Hello. We have some exciting things to report. With regard to the upcoming meeting we anticipate good participation from the Brazilian Surgeons and are lining up an interesting group of guest speakers. Randy Bindra is sorting through the Instructional Courses and the abstracts to put together a great program. Every member who sent an abstract will be able to present their work. When he contacts you please answer in the affirmative and plan to go to Red Rock for the meeting. Hand surgeons want to hear what you are thinking and doing.

We have asked Ron Palmer, the President of the Endowment Fund, to speak to the members. The endowment is not an abstract concept but is our generously donated money being used to extend the reach of our organization.

The endowment has gradually changed its focus over the years but the important issue is that we need to be sure the money is used in a manner that reflects and amplifies our will. Please talk to Ron Palmer about the Endowment. We are not putting money into a black hole. We are paying for things that reflect positively on our organization and members. Please donate and we can all bask in the synergistic glow.

HAND is doing well under the guidance of our editor, Michael Neumeister. He is working on a digital application that hopefully will be rolled out in the future. Well written review papers are welcome along with submissions reporting your research. Submit your manuscripts to our journal.

We are in a privileged position to participate in Maintenance of Competence. Bridging both Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgery, we have board members in excellent positions in both disciplines to put us at the forefront of the MOC process. At this year’s meeting we will have some instructional courses that are certified. As MOC becomes prominent the Hand Association will provide its membership with the best opportunities to participate in this process.

VuMedi is a growing entity in our educational environment. There may be other similar sites out there and others may be developed. I have reached out to the ASSH to organize the Upper Extremity content under a common silo. How this particular site will fit into the educational framework for Hand Surgeons in the future is yet to be determined but I encourage you to register and see what is there and to sign on to the webinars. There is clearly a huge opportunity for delivery of this material over the web and at this point it is sitting there free for us to use.

Finally I want to encourage you to continue your membership in the Association and to bring on new members. We have a lot of good things happening and we welcome the participation of every member. If you want to participate more, please send me an email. If you have a special skill, please volunteer. We have a lot of work to do and we welcome any member who wants to be more involved.

Steve McCabe