REINVIGORATE.

As I reflect on the recent ACFAS Annual Scientific meeting held in Los Angeles in early February, I returned to Iowa with a renewed vigor for my practice and patients. As always, the caliber of the sessions were second to none and I walked away with more knowledge than when I arrived. It also reenergizes me after connecting with thousands of colleagues and friends.

I am excited about what 2023 will hold for ACFAS members. With the launch of the new ACFAS Chris Mahaffey Leadership Development Program, which was dedicated to the College’s former Executive Director during ACFAS 2023, there will be many opportunities for members to get involved. This new program will allow members to develop their leadership skills and develop new relationship on both a local and national level. It will also be important to mentor younger leaders that will matriculate into leadership positions in the future. It is imperative to engage younger people interested in the field of foot and ankle surgery. I encourage all ACFAS members to reach out to local colleges and universities to recruit undergraduate students into our wonderful profession.

I am looking forward to the College’s expanding educational offerings. The Women's Virtual Symposium: Challenging Cases & Challenges in the Profession will be held in April. The virtual Symposium is being held on Saturday, April 22 and will present a fusion of lectures on challenging cases, before transitioning into talks pertinent to women foot and ankle surgeons. This will be a stimulating program and I encourage all ACFAS members to attend.

We are also embarking on the development of a new registry for outcomes in foot and ankle surgery. This will help with tracking the outcomes of specific foot and ankle procedures, resulting in better patient centric outcomes through research. I encourage all of our members to get involved in the registry. If you are interested in participating the registry development and stay up to date on this initiative, please send an email with your contact information to registry@acfas.org.

Questions for Dr. Barp? Write him at president@acfas.org.

I am excited to serve the ACFAS membership during the upcoming year and am grateful to the many leaders that have come before me. I would like to specifically thank Thanh Dinh, DPM FACFAS and Michael Cornelison, DPM FACFAS for setting a high bar for the College and leading by example. As the year quickly progresses to spring, I hope that you are also reinvigorated to return to your practice with new information and ideas to be the best for your patients. Additionally, I hope that you have the vigor to support the future of our profession and visit local colleges and universities to educate students on our profession and the privilege that we have to take care of patients with their wide variety of foot and ankle problems. We are a very important cog in the wheel of patient care and prevention. As John F. Kennedy said “One person can make a difference and everyone should try.”

Until next time.

Eric A. Barp, DPM, FACFAS ACFAS President