GOING THE EXTRA MILE: SHAPING THE FUTURE OF FOOT AND ANKLE SURGERY

As we welcome a long-awaited summer and begin to enjoy the great outdoors again, I recently paused to think how many of our members see the first joggers of the year and start estimating how to budget our time as the warm weather brings higher rates of injury that will require our specialization and experience. We chose a path that will always sacrifice some summer leisure to serve our patients, and make sure they don’t miss their yearly camping trip or their favorite charity’s 5K.

Looking around at the members of the ACFAS, I see thousands of professionals who not only chose to sacrifice their time for their patients, but to devote a piece of their lives to the specialty itself as a volunteer leader in this singular organization. To dedicate so many hours that could have been spent recovering from the long days in the OR to the needs and well-being of your peers—developing, implementing, and managing the College’s programs and initiatives —is a truly selfless act that the members of our thirteen committees regard as just being ‘the right thing to do.’

It is a humbling experience to hold this office and see the birds-eye view of every committee’s mission to improve our members’ practice, outcomes, and careers as they implement the College’s recently updated strategic co mpass. The success of recent educational programs, including the Virtual Women’s Symposium and Fellowship Zoom Rooms, as well as the upcoming Updated TAR Course, Basic Principle of Foot and Ankle Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery in partnership with AO North America, and the development of the ACFAS Registry with IQVIA, would not be possible without our volunteers.

Each stage of the training pipeline has mentoring and resources, from the decision stages of medical school to opening a practice. Our trademark education programs and publications provide the tools and discoveries needed to push our craft to new levels. This guidance and wisdom cannot come from anywhere else but a physician who lives and breathes what we do, and the gathering of this inimitable passion and talent has shaped the past, present, and future of foot and ankle surgery.

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

This is evident with the recent development of The ACFAS Chris Mahaffey Leadership Development Program, designed by and for ACFAS members. Led by the Leadership Development Task Force, the program is designed to provide the knowledge, resources, mentoring, and networking opportunities to develop the essential skills needed to succeed as leaders and ambassadors of both ACFAS and the profession. The Leadership Development Program in integral in supporting the College’s inclusivity efforts and aims to infuse the growing diversity and talent of future leaders into the ACFAS volunteer pipeline.

While we all prepare for more patients and hope to find time to get away from it all ourselves this summer, take a moment to consider the appreciation your patients have for your devotion. You also have my personal gratitude for taking that step further by being a member of ACFAS and giving back to our profession.

Eric A. Barp, DPM, FACFAS ACFAS President