AAOS: Dr. Vaccaro, Program Chair

From March 6th – March 10th attendees converged on San Diego for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting. Several Rothman Orthopaedic Institute physicians held prominent roles at this year's meeting. One of them was Rothman Orthopaedic Institute president Dr. Alexander Vaccaro, who was the Academy's Program Chair. We caught up with Dr. Vaccaro at the meeting for a quick Q&A.

Dr. Vaccaro, please describe your role?

Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD, PhD, MBA: As Program Chair, I am responsible for the planning and execution of the various presentations, displays, symposiums, meetings and events at the Academy. There are a lot of people counting on me and my colleagues to put on the best event we possibly can. It is a vital role and I could not have done it without the support of several people at the Academy.


Discuss the different aspects of being Program Chair, in addition to your own personal involvement at the Academy.

AVR: During the Academy I will present several studies and participate in numerous symposia and panel discussions. I am on the move from morning until night, including various meetings and networking dinners. Plus there is catching up with former classmates and colleagues from throughout the years. That is all on top of planning the program. I give a lot of the credit to the Academy's support services, who I heavily relied on during the planning of this year's program.


How does your role affect not just your patients, but all the patients at Rothman Orthopaedic Institute?

ARV: My role puts me in a unique situation of knowing what everyone else is doing. Many of the participants are focused solely on their own studies and presentations where I have my eyes and ears on everything. This gives me the opportunity to selectively choose and adopt certain best practices I see for our organization. I take full advantage of being around the world's best orthopaedic surgeons and look forward to implementing what I learn to best serve our patients at Rothman Orthopaedic Institute.