As I sit down to “pen” this installment of the “Presidents Message” I am just minutes from conducting a nation-wide webinar for the National Down Syndrome Society. The timing of such inherently forces me to reflect not only on the tremendous work everyone at ACFAP has done over the past year and a half, but also the utter importance of the our educational impact thus far. Helping better the lives of children both medically and educationally around the world is the true essence of what it’s all about. This is the impetus for my own motivation within this society.
2016 has already been a banner year for ACFAP. We continue our membership & corporate sponsorship explosion. We now have paying members from over 41 states and a growing international contingent. Some even said it was crazy to run a seminar “out west” in a remote location like Yosemite, but in fact that has driven our California membership up to 38 members (we only had 3 CA members last year)! Additionally, our conference is looking to replicate the outstanding attendance we had in Miami in 2015.
This issue will coincide with the Yosemite seminar. A seminar that has such a tremendous lineup of speakers and contributing vendors I’m not sure why anyone would dare miss it! You know who you are, and next year I’ll let you redeem yourselves by attending!
2016 is launching bigger, better, and more exciting initiatives for ACFAP. A new website, increased national lectures, new resources, and new meeting content are just a few of our initiatives. We have to continually raise the bar for lower extremity pediatric excellence, and we will!
So let’s look ahead!
Planning for the ACFAP 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting is already underway. I promise you that once again it will be the “Can’t Miss” meeting of 2017. It will be held once again at some absolutely spectacular and breathtaking national park that you will not want to miss! In addition to another guaranteed stellar lecture lineup and outing Parks tour, we will be adding hands on workshops featuring ponsetti casting, kinesio taping, surgical techniques, torsional and limb length evaluation protocols, and more!
Our meetings are designed with two main missions in mind. The first is to educate in a positive environment that is both professional and fun at the same time. The second mission is to forge camaraderie between pediatric foot and ankle specialists and the companies that offer our patients the best and innovative solutions to manage their conditions…and maybe even foster ideas for new procedures, technology and products by putting the best minds together and learning from each other.
ACFAP is continuing its exposure at national conference such as SAM, AAPPM, Midwest, and APMA national to name a few. We are also continuing to work with and help grow the ACFAP college student chapters! I personally assure you that your membership dollars are hard at work and being used to grow pediatric foot and ankle education!
Thank you to each and every one of you for making this all possible.
Louis J. DeCaro, DPM
President, ACFAP
www.acfap.org