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 As the SCOA begins its 60th year in existence, there is a palpable and appropriate sense of uncertainty and concern among our membership over the
future of our distinguished profession of orthopedic surgery. I am reminded of
the famous proclamation of Thomas Paine “These are the times that try men’s
souls”. While we may not be facing the imminent peril of an advancing army, the
practice of medicine, and particularly our specialty, are seemingly under political,
legislative, and economic attack from all sides. However, it is during these
challenging times that we must recommit ourselves as a unified organization
to our founding pillars of knowledge, skill, and care while remaining passionate
and fierce defenders of our profession against the threats on all fronts. In times
of crisis, opportunities do exist. The SCOA remains committed to recognizing
these opportunities, guarding our profession, and providing valuable, relevant
leadership during this turbulent period in our history.
As all who have attended recent meetings can attest, the focal point of the
SCOA calendar is the annual meeting held the first weekend of August at the Sanctuary on Kiawah Island. For the past several years, the goal of the SCOA leadership has been to establish a milestone family-friendly annual event which would become an important tradition and summer highlight for the membership. After completing our 5th year at Kiawah Island last month, I would say that we are well on our way to achieving those goals. The meeting continues to grow in attendance and popularity each year as the agenda combines a stimulating scientific program with vital political and economic advocacy issues that affect us all, while fostering friendship and solidarity among the membership. The annual meeting also serves as an important forum for maintaining a strong relationship with the residency training programs across the state. A record number of resident papers were submitted this year and we proudly continued the tradition of featuring updates from the three programs to highlight the events and developments at our academic institutions.
As a result of the changing legislative landscape, there has been a definitive shift in emphasis at the Annual meeting over the past several years towards political advocacy and education of the membership concerning the vital importance of physician participation in the legislative process. One of the cornerstones of this effort has been the increasingly popular “Legislative Roundtable”. This open forum session features invited guest legislators who discuss their opinion of issues pertinent to our profession while taking open floor questions in a candid, mutually informative atmosphere. This year we were proud to host Representatives Anton Gunn, Jenny Horne, and Leon Howard as well as Senators Brad Hutto and Tom Davis. This session is only one of countless
reasons that attendance at the annual meeting is so critical to the future of the organization and the profession in the state of South Carolina. We sincerely hope that all of our members will make the annual meeting a priority in their future summer schedules.
In the coming year, the SCOA has an aggressive legislative agenda on numerous fronts. First, we remain steadfastly committed to restoring a physicians right to employ a physical therapist to assist in the care of our patients. With the guidance and leadership of our lobbying team of Tony Denny and Darrell Campbell, we plan to reintroduce legislation again this year and to invest significant resources and time in an effort to wage a successful campaign on behalf of our patients.
The SCOA has also formed a subcommittee of foot and ankle subspecialists from around the state with the goal of promoting legislation that maintains the highest standard of care and allows a scope of practice for podiatrists commensurate with the level of their training. We are actively engaging with podiatrists and legislators on this issue to remain in an offensive position for this perpetual threat to the high standards of foot and ankle care in South Carolina.
The SCOA is also proud to recognize the efforts of Ann Margaret McCaw, a member of the SCAOE, as the SCOA representative to the state Workers Compensation Commission Medical Services Provider Manual Advisory Committee. Ann Margaret performed tireless work for us throughout this year as she fought to maintain and underscore the value of surgical services in the face of commission attempts to enact cost savings through decreased reimbursement. Although we did not achieve our desired separate conversion factor for surgical services, we did avert planned draconian cuts thanks to the efforts of out SCOA team. Their efforts on our behalf will continue throughout the year.
I have been a member of the SCOA for 11 years and I am honored to serve as president of this proud organization in the coming year. It is my opinion that the SCOA continues to become a stronger, more vital, and more effective organization each year thanks to the efforts of our past leaders, our outstanding director Fraser Cobbe, and most importantly due to the commitment and enthusiasm of the members. At times, the challenges we face today may seem nearly insurmountable. However, I am confident that members of each generation over the past 60 years had similar concerns over the issues confronting them. Thankfully, they responded by a show of solidarity and professionalism while always highlighting the care of patients as the focal point of their efforts. In the past, our members resisted cynicism and found creative solutions to problems amidst dramatic economic and political change while never sacrificing the inherent sense of obligation and altruism which lie at the core of our profession. It is this extraordinary behavior of the past that
provided us with the extraordinary privileges associated with being an orthopedic surgeon in a state such as ours. The SCOA is here to guide and lead our membership through these difficult times. As Shakespeare famously and wisely concluded, “Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie.”
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