I had the pleasure of attending the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand, the premier organization for hand and upper limb patient care in the world, for which I’ve had the privilege of serving on their Board of Directors, the Council, as well serving as presently as the Vice President for the American Foundation for Surgery of the Hand.
On Wednesday I was invited again to the Resident and Fellows Conference Luncheon, where leaders of the profession meet with aspiring hand surgeons doing their residencies in orthopedic, plastic or general surgery, and trainees who are doing their post-graduate fellowship in hand and upper limb surgery. It is always delightful to meet the young, aspiring surgeons, and share some tales from the past, and some wisdom gleaned over decades of the practice of our profession. After that, I was a faculty member for the pre-course on ultrasound use in hand and upper limb surgery. This course featured a combination of didactic lectures and hands-on patient examination of volunteers and some procedure training on the use of ultrasound-guided needle injections. Having had an ultrasound in my own office and practice for many years, I feel this is an important modality to share with the other professionals. Wednesday evening I attended the Council Dinner, a sumptuous affair, with many of my colleagues.
On Thursday, opening ceremonies were held, and music accompaniment by members of the Hand Society who are crack musicians, several of which are close friends and colleagues. An Alumni dinner for the University of California San Francisco and University of California Sacramento/Schriner’s Hospital was held at the Lotus of Siam, and a good time was had by all.
Diao & Steve Lee
colleagues
Thursday and Friday’s highlights were participating in the Commercial Support Committee Face to Face meetings with industry executives, which I have been doing for a dozen years. It was great to meet with old friends and new colleagues. There was great excitement this year about the innovations that the Hand Society has put in place for this year’s Annual Meeting. The so-called Solution Center is a combination of the standard exhibit hall plus a myriad of activities, lectures, and programs designed to promote interaction between the surgeons and the companies and their offerings.
Diao & Littler Eaton
The Littler Eaton Society Alumni dinner was held at Mr. Chow’s in Caesars Palace, and Steve Glickel presided over this dinner. I had the chance to share time with many colleagues from the various institutions and training programs that we’ve all been a part of.
I participated in a great program in a post-course called, Controversies of Hand Surgeries where two dozen experts in our field presented point counter panel on some of the most controversial areas in our profession. I talked about tendon repair and tendon release surgery. The meeting closed with an informal reception at president Scott Levin’s suite at Caesars Palace, with congratulations to incoming president Marty Boyer. All In all, it was a successful and busy time in Las Vegas with enthusiastic participation by all.