American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons
Encyclopedia
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) is an orthopaedic organization.

Characteristics

Founded at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in 1933, the AAOS has grown to include over 36,000 members. The group provides education and practice management services for orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals. The AAOS also lobbies and works on public education. The AAOS describes itself as "the world's largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists."

In 1997, the AAOS Board of Directors founded the The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which engages in health policy and advocacy activities on behalf of musculoskeletal patients and the orthopaedic surgeons. The AAOS publishes the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

The AAOS annual meeting is among the largest medical meetings in the nation with attendance exceeding 30,000. The most recent meeting was held Feb. 15-19, 2011 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Next year's meeting is scheduled for February 5-9, 2012 in San Francisco, California.

Policy advocacy

The AAOS has advocated for state and federal tort reform
Tort reform
Tort reform refers to proposed changes in common law civil justice systems that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort actions are civil common law claims first created in the English commonwealth system as a non-legislative means for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to...

 on medical malpractice
Medical malpractice
Medical malpractice is professional negligence by act or omission by a health care provider in which the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes injury or death to the patient, with most cases involving medical error. Standards and...

 suits. In 2006 the AAOS joined five other American medical groupsThe five other organizations were the American College of Surgeons
American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913 to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice.-Membership:...

, the American College of Cardiology
American College of Cardiology
The American College of Cardiology is a nonprofit medical association established in 1949 to advocate for quality cardiovascular care through education, research promotion, development and application of standards and guidelines, and to influence health care policy...

, the American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Family Physicians
The American Academy of Family Physicians was founded in 1947 to promote the science and art of family medicine. It is one of the largest medical organizations in the United States, with over 100,000 members...

, the American College of Physicians
American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is a national organization of doctors of internal medicine —physicians who specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illnesses in adults. With 130,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in...

, and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists , formerly the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is a professional association of medical doctors specializing in obstetrics and gynecology in the United States. It has a membership of over 55,000 and represents 90 percent...

.
in endorsing a document called "Principles for Reform of the U.S. Health Care System"; part of the document's preamble stated "Health care coverage for all is needed to facilitate access to quality health care, which will in turn improve the individual and collective health of society."

The AAOS gave its support to the Washington Legal Foundation
Washington Legal Foundation
The Washington Legal Foundation is a non-profit legal organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1977, the Foundation's stated goal is "to defend and promote the principles of freedom and justice." The organization promotes pro-business and free-market positions and is widely perceived as...

 for a petition challenging an Institute of Medicine
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...

report which was expected to call for tougher safety regulations on medical devices. The AAOS was concerned that Institute of Medicine panel did not include a practicing surgeon.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK