Latest News

BOA Annual Congress 2025 - Save the Date!

Thank you to everyone for attending the BOA Annual Congress this September, we have received great feedback from our delegates, speaker and exhibitors.

Our next Annual Congress for 2025 is taking place in Liverpool on 16th – 19th September, the programme will be created around the theme of ‘Preventing Harm & Transforming Lives’

Keep an eye out for further information including abstract submissions on the website at www.boa.ac.uk/Congress.

Thank you to all our exhibitors and sponsors for supporting the 2024 Annual Congress. For information regarding exhibiting and sponsorship at the 2025 Annual Congress, contact exhibitions@boa.ac.uk

Obesity Health Alliance

Following on from work by the Orthopaedic Committee and as part of Mark Bowditch’s Presidential year theme of ‘prevention’, the BOA has joined the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA).

The OHA is keen to promote the obesity/MSK agenda, in the same way it has done for obesity/CVD and obesity/cancer.

The OHA is composed of leading national health charities, medical royal colleges, campaign groups and membership bodies with an interest in health and public health. Aligning MSK and obesity issues will provide another channel to raise the MSK/T&O profile.

Further details of the OHA at: https://obesityhealthalliance.org.uk

2025 Robert Jones Medal and Association Prize

Applications for the 2025 Robert Jones Medal opens on the 1st January and closes on 31st January 2025. The BOA offers a prize of £500 and a gold medal in memory of Sir Robert Jones through an annual essay competition, in which BOA members can submit an essay of their own choice on an orthopaedic interest.

The essay is to be submitted in the following format:

Typewritten in English, not exceeding 3000 words, (excluding references), do not put your name on the essay –all must be anonymised when reviewed by the President.

Essays should be submitted via e-mail to Celia Jones, PA to President & COO at c.jones@boa.ac.uk

BOA Educational Courses

The BOA runs a wide range of courses under the Education Committee. These courses cater to the educational needs of a wide range of members and non-members at all stages of their careers.

Current courses include:

• SAS Professional Development Programme

• Training Orthopaedic Trainers Course (V-TOTs)

• Law for Orthopaedic Surgeons

Full details of all our courses can be found on the BOA website at www.boa.ac.uk/courses.

English Language Support Academy for Medics

Belfast City Council is supporting 11 experienced international doctors to become registered and licenced to practise in the city, through an English Language Support Academy for Medics – the first of its kind in Northern Ireland – as they re-establish their careers in their new home city. The first cohort of medical professionals to receive support from the new programme include an orthopaedic surgeon, emergency medical doctors, gynaecologists, GPs and paediatricians.

Further details are available from www.belfastcity.gov.uk/employability.

BOA ORUK Research Fellowships

Applications for the BOA / ORUK Research Fellowship will open in 2025.

This scheme will award two fellowships of up to £65k for a project in any area of orthopaedics each year, including basic science, diagnosis, treatment, surgical technology.

Applications are open to BOA members who are trainees, post-CCT members, and SAS surgeons. Keep an eye out for information at www.boa.ac.uk/research-fellowships.

BOA Ortho Update Course 2025

The BOA Ortho Update Course will take place on Saturday 1st March, in Birmingham.

We are excited to announce a newly restructured BOA Orth Update course that has something for everyone. This includes the difficult critical CBDs that delegates often struggle to get signed-off, such as metastatic spinal cord compression and primary/secondary musculoskeletal malignancies. Improve and polish up your clinical examination skills in both a generic and diagnosis-specific manner.

For the first time, we are introducing the hugely popular small group teaching that involves a question-and-answer session on various orthopaedic topics, including the young adult hip, ostomies for the young arthritic knee patient and trauma scenarios. For further information and to register your place, visit www.boa.ac.uk/OrthoUpdate.

Get involved in UKITE

More than 800 trainees from across the UK and Ireland are expected to take the UKITE Exam online between the 6th – 13th December 2024.

Since its inception in 2007, UKITE has helped trainees prepare for section 1 of the FRCS Tr and Orth with questions covering the full spectrum of sub-specialties, contributed by our volunteers.

We would like to thank our tireless team of editors, subspecialty leads, and our clinical lead, Mark Sohatee for their tireless work. Our editors make UKITE possible by developing, reviewing and validating questions.

We have vacancies in all sub-specialties for senior trainees, SAS, or new consultants who can contribute an hour or two per month. This is great introduction to question writing and examining, no experience required, we provide all the training. Find out how to join the team at www.boa.ac.uk/UKITE-editorial-role.

For any queries, please contact ukite@boa.ac.uk or visit www.boa.ac.uk/UKITE.

Medical Student Essay Prize 2025

Medical students are invited to submit an essay on their Quality Improvement Project (QUIP) and how it has equipped them and their department to perform better. The project must have completed at least one round of the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) cycle and can be on any aspect of T&O.

The competition is open to all medical students in the UK or Republic of Ireland.

Applications will open in 2025 and further news information will be available at www.boa.ac.uk/medical-student-essay.