By John D. Kelly IV, MD

You probably know who The Boss is, but are you aware of the BOS?

The Board of Specialty Societies (BOS) was conceived as a means of facilitating communication, collegiality, and unity among the 22 musculoskeletal specialty societies, as well as fostering communication on between the societies and the AAOS leadership.

Specifically, the mission of the BOS is “to facilitate communications between musculoskeletal specialty societies and the AAOS and among such societies; to advise the AAOS Board of Directors regarding issues of concern of musculoskeletal specialty societies and their members; to comment on AAOS resolutions and proposed amendments to the AAOS Bylaws; and to foster unity and collaborative initiatives.”

Although the specialty societies are diverse and represent groups ranging from spine surgeons to rehabilitation specialists, they all share the same goals of promoting the best musculoskeletal care for patients and providing the most up-to-date education for their members. As a result, each society tackles issues that it considers are most threatening to the provision of its orthopaedic specialty care.

Furthermore, each society crafts meaningful educational approaches—from courses to meetings. Within each society, thoughtful and innovative solutions are developed to address concerns such as advocacy, coding difficulties, fellowship match disparities, maintenance of certification, medical liability, and reimbursement challenges.

Invariably, some societies develop solutions to problems faster than others. The collective sharing of such information among the member societies of the BOS holds great promise in accelerating the dissemination of useful knowledge to the general orthopaedic surgeon.

Working together, for all
Now, more than ever, organization and cohesion in medicine are essential to ensure that patients have access to quality musculoskeletal care. The BOS strives to nurture unity among the specialty societies and to achieve that singularity of purpose. Remembering that “a house divided cannot stand,” the BOS brings all specialists into one brotherhood, along with the AAOS. The pooled resources of the AAOS are much more effective in ensuring quality care and access to specialty care than any single society.

The BOS Communications Committee specifically endeavors to increase dialogue among specialty societies, to share useful information, and to nourish collegiality. The BOS Communications Committee holds frequent conference calls, meets biannually, and communicates regularly via e-mail to discuss important matters and relay them to both leadership and membership in a timely fashion. The committee also helps edit an electronic newsletter, The Bulletin Board, which keeps members of both the BOS and the Board of Councilors (BOC) up-to-date on matters that affect the provision of quality musculoskeletal care.

Solidarity among BOS members rests on the fact that it was conceived with service to membership principally in mind. The BOS is relentless in its efforts to keep all specialists on the same page. All societies share the common vision of rendering high quality and accessible care to patients.

The BOS aims to serve orthopaedics with dedication, responsiveness, and an impressive assembly of pooled resources. Visit the BOS Web page on the AAOS Web site to learn more. Contact your specialty society with any issues of concern so that it may convey them to the BOS. There is no better time to remain one cohesive and unified voice on behalf of our patients!

John D. Kelly IV, MD, chairs the BOS Communications Committee. He can be reached at John.Kelly@uphs.upenn.edu