Latest News

BOA Virtual Training Orthopaedic Trainers (V-TOTs)

With the cancellation of face-to-face educational courses, the BOA have developed a Virtual Training Orthopaedic Trainers (V-TOTs) course facilitated by the BOA Educational Advisor Lisa Hadfield-Law. The V-TOTs course is currently being delivered primarily for those concerned about meeting CCT requirements, but anyone who wishes to register their interest should email policy@boa.ac.uk to be added to a waiting list. Please see further information, along with detail on the structure, assessment and cost of the V-TOTs course here: www.boa.ac.uk/vtots.

BOA Virtual Training Orthopaedic Education Supervisors (V-TOES)

V-TOES will be offered through two routes: you can join a small cohort on a paid-for course (‘Regular V-TOES’) or in many regions we are holding a ‘regional V-TOES’ at the request of the TPD: • Regular V-TOES courses will have lower numbers of participants compared to regional courses and will be given greater moderation by faculty, and tailored interactions between faculty and participants based on the needs of the cohort. • Regional courses will cover high numbers of participants on each programme, with TPDs and College tutors joining as faculty. The new curriculum will require more collaboration between departments within deaneries and the

BOA Regional V-TOES courses will be supporting this. These courses are being delivered as part of a BOA-led national strategy to support implementation of the new curriculum – this commenced in December 2019 and will be delivered in those regions where requested and organised by the TPD (check with the TPD for your region if you aren’t sure).

Further information on V-TOES is available here: www.boa.ac.uk/v-toes. If you are interested in V-TOES please email policy@boa.ac.uk to be added to the V-TOES waiting list.

2021 Medical Student Essay Prize

The 2021 Medical Student Essay Prize title is ‘As a medical student, what would encourage you to consider a career in T&O and what are the perceived barriers to such a career?’ Applications for the 2021 Medical Student Essay Prize are scheduled to open 1st April 2021 and essays should be no longer than 1,000 words. Further information on the 2021 Medical Student Essay Prize can be found here: www.boa.ac.uk/medical-student-essay.

New edition of ‘Standards for the Management of Open Fractures’ published

The BOA and BAPRAS collaborated on this publication, which includes 21 fully updated chapters as well as the latest version of the associated BOAST. The book is available both online and in print, and can be found for free on Oxford Medicine Online thanks to funding from BAPRAS, the BOA and the OTS. We are very grateful to all who helped with this publication.

BOASTs

• New ACL BOAST

The BOA has recently published a Specialty BOAST, led by BASK and BOSTAA on the Best Practice for Management of ACL injuries, as well as an accompanying guideline. The BOA is pleased to be able to publish this Specialty BOAST as part of a development of the well-known BOAST ‘branding’, to enable a wider range of standards documents to be created in collaboration with Specialist Societies.

• Supracondylar Fractures BOAST Updated

The BOA Trauma Committee has also recently published an updated BOAST ‘Supracondylar Fractures in the Humerus in Children’. This BOAST will be the next to feature in Injury, so keep an eye out for this too!

All new Specialty BOASTs, as well as Trauma BOASTs, can be found on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/boasts.

BOA ‘Coping with COVID’ webinar series

At the end of October we held a webinar entitled ‘Coping with COVID: Elective operating and the second wave of COVID-19’, in partnership with BODS, BHS and BASK, which provided several different perspectives on how elective surgery was going and what data was available. We’ve had great feedback from this, with one participant describing it as “a sobering, pragmatic and informative session with erudite speakers offering guidance and support for our local challenges.” Further webinars in our ‘Coping with COVID’ series are due to be announced shortly, so keep an eye on our website and news emails.

Latest BOA guidance

The BOA continues to support our members with guidance and support on COVID-19 related issues. At the time of going to press with this JTO issue, we have just launched with BESS and BSSH a document called ‘Information for patients having steroid injections in the upper limb or hand during the Coronavirus pandemic’, available at: www.boa.ac.uk/steroid-injections.

BOA Ortho Update 2021 - Saturday 9th January (AM), Online (Zoom)

BOA Ortho Update Course, previously the BOA Instructional Course, will give delegates the opportunity to access new understanding and support preparation for the FRCS exam. Given the current rise in COVID-19 cases across the UK we have taken the decision to make this course fully virtual.

The course will run for half a day on the morning of Saturday 9th January. Simon Hodkinson, BOA Honorary Secretary, Lisa Hadfield-Law, BOA Education Advisor and Hiro Tanaka, BOA Education Committee Chair have come to the decision that we will not be providing CBDs in 2021. The course will include the plenary update lectures from our guest faculty in a number of specialist areas which will be followed by Q&A.

Programme, presentation speakers and further registration information can be found at: www.boa.ac.uk/orthoupdate.

Joint Action (www.boa.ac.uk/joint-action)

We’d like to thank our runners who took part in the first ever Virtual Virgin Money London Marathon on Sunday 4th October, the platform is still open to donations if you would like to show your support, www.justgiving.com/campaign/JAlondonmarathon2020.

Joint Action Christmas Appeal 2020!

General fundraising has been hit very hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of fundraising events have been cancelled and many charities, particularly smaller ones, are struggling to maintain services because of this huge reduction in income. Musculoskeletal problems impact all sectors of society from children to the elderly; please support us this Christmas in helping to make a difference through donating to Joint Action, www.justgiving.com/campaign/joint-action-christmas-appeal-2020.

We raise funds to support the development of clinical trials in trauma and orthopaedics. In 2019 we awarded funding for the appointment of three Surgical Specialty Leads to facilitate clinical trials in our specialty and in early 2021 we will be announcing new funding for two clinical trial units. Find out more about Joint Action, The Orthopaedic Research Appeal of the BOA online and the clinical trials we are currently funding, www.boa.ac.uk/bosrc-research.

New Orthohub podcast with Prof Tim Briggs

Orthohub have put out a ‘see one / do one’ podcast with former BOA President Tim Briggs where they discuss his time as Medical Director, the BOA Presidency, and his transition from orthopaedic surgeon to one of the most influential people in UK healthcare. This wide-ranging conversation covers the development and principles of GIRFT (Getting It Right the First Time), what are Integrated Care Systems (ICS), the role and input of the BOA, and what this all means for our profession. Access the podcast at www.orthohub.xyz/episode-11-tim-briggs-girftthe-future-of-orthopaedics.

Membership Update

AGM Results

We are pleased to announce that all resolutions at the AGM have passed. The main points to note are below: • Membership subscription rates for 2021 have been frozen at the 2020 level, so there will be no increase next year. • Eligibility to vote has been expanded and now includes all Home Fellows, Home Members, SAS

Surgeons in the 16 years+ membership category and Post-CCT members.

• We have amended our voting process to allow online voting in future for election to Council and Officer positions, and at the AGM. • The timeline for payment has been reduced from nine months to three months from the renewal date. Notice of the renewal will still be given 1-2 months in advance of the start of the year.

New Membership Benefit

As part of our efforts to support members during all stages of their career, membership fees are now free for BOA members during Maternity, Paternity, Adoption or Shared Parental Leave. For more information and to apply email membership@boa.ac.uk.

Coming Soon – Paperless Direct Debit

We will soon be offering paperless direct debit and are hoping to have this up and running by the end of December 2020. If you any queries please email accounts@boa.ac.uk.

Are your details up to date?

Please log into the MyBOA area of the website and check your details are up to date, including memberships of any specialist societies. If you have not logged in yet, you can create your account at www.boa.ac.uk/set-up using your primary email that we have on record.