2021-2022 BOTA President - Oliver Adebayo

Following our hugely successful first ever virtual BOTA Congress last year, held six months later than planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was an honour to be voted in as the new BOTA President. Records were broken, with the highest attendance recorded for our Congress, and BOTA’s highest voting turnout in the AGM via our transparent online polling system.

The pandemic has had a profound effect on all our lives, particularly with how we interact as a profession online. As BOTA webmaster last year, I felt at the centre of an orthopaedic digital revolution with an explosion of content, discussion and opportunity for our specialty to be at the forefront of digital health. I delivered on creating and launching our new interactive website to allow it to become a hub for all orthopaedic junior doctors for key information, courses, and some of the amazing content created by orthopods around the world.

I am currently an ST6 trainee in London on the Stanmore rotation, with an MSc in Surgical Innovation. I firmly believe that BOTA, representing the future of our specialty, needs to engage and lead on innovation and sustainability within orthopaedics.

Furthermore with the challenges within surgery with regards to culture and diversity, I hope that we can continue the good work started bylast year’s committee. As such we have established working groups within our committee to tackle these key areas.

Finally in the wake of a faltering elective restart program post COVID-19, I am committed to ensuring every trainee has the opportunities they need to gain confidence in elective operating and will be working closely with RCSEngland to do so. However we can’t do it alone. We look to the whole orthopaedic community to help in pushing through an agenda of change in all areas for a better future.