First Vice President Wilford Gibson, MD, shares his vision for the future of AAOS

Wilford Gibson, MD, FAAOS, FACS, FAOA, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, is first vice president of AAOS and will assume the presidency at the Annual Meeting in New Orleans in 2026. Dr. Gibson has a long history of involvement AAOS, previously serving as chair of both the Board of Councilors (BOC) and the Advocacy Council. During the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting, he shared his thoughts on his role as first vice president and the future of AAOS with Stuart Fischer, MD, FAAOS, of the AAOS Now Editorial Board.

Dr. Fischer: What are some of your goals as first vice president?
Dr. Gibson: Our goals are really determined by our Strategic Plan, [which has four pillars: Culture, Members, Patients, and Musculoskeletal (MSK) Community]. Our culture and our members are … really at the pinnacle of what we do. … In December, at the [board] workshop, we’ll look at the Strategic Plan [pillars of] Patients and MSK Community. I expect we’ll look at some of our MSK partners in industry and some of our MSK partners in the not-for-profit space, and we’re going to try to engage them and hopefully work together. Our goals are to continue to emphasize our ongoing pillars and improve MSK health through collaboration, innovation, and patient care and focus.

You’ve been chair of the BOC and chair of the Advocacy Council. Is there something unique that you bring to the job based on your past experience?
All those experiences are important, and they’ve shaped who I am. I was the chair of the BOC — that’s really how I got started in the Academy. I’d been active in the state, and our state orthopaedic society members recognized that and asked me to be a councilor. As a councilor, I got engaged in the State Orthopaedic Society Committee and also the Economics Committee. I was on the Board of Directors for AAOS for three years as [BOC] secretary, chair-elect, and chair. … I do think those experiences have helped prepare me for what I’m doing now as first vice president. I’ve got easily a decade of experience, with some historical knowledge of the organization, as well as where we were and where we’re going, and [how] our membership is changing. So that’s given me perspective, I would say.

As you rotate through the presidential lines [on the AAOS Board of Directors], you go through different committees and sit in on different groups. You get a wide experience with the Academy.
Even on the BOC as a secretary, chair-elect, and chair, we rotate through different BOC committees. When we’re on the board, we participate [in all the councils]: one year on research and quality, the next year on education, and then your final year’s on advocacy. When you’re BOC chair-elect and chair, you get very much engaged in advocacy. That’s probably the strength that I bring to our board. … [I also bring] my experiences in diverse practices — [including] the Navy [and] academics. I was in academics for a few years and then private practice most of my career. All those perspectives bring me to where I am now and have prepared me for this position.

Where do you see the Academy going forward? Are we going to be a different kind of organization?
I think the Academy’s in a stage of renewal. We spent the past two years listening to different focus groups, different segments of the Academy, multiple specialty societies, like, “What can we do to make the Academy better for you?” We’ve gotten a lot of feedback, and we’re implementing that. We’re going to grow, we’re going to get better, and we’re going to continue to have a sustainable, innovative, patient-focused organization. The cultures may shift a little, the membership shifts a little bit, but our goals and values are still the same.

We’ve added several new member categories, so that’s going to enlarge the Academy and perhaps change the culture just a little bit?
That’s a good question. We have new membership categories — our advanced care partners, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, some of those that work musculoskeletal space with AAOS Fellows, orthopaedic surgeons. I believe [the new categories are] an opportunity for us, and it’s also a great opportunity for them. But we have to continue to provide value for them, for them to be a member and show up at our Annual Meeting. … [Among] the top two or three things that people want [from AAOS] is a great Annual Meeting.

With all the Academy activity, and with a busy private practice, what do you do in your free time, if you get any?
I’m very fortunate. I have a very lovely, kind, and supportive wife, and I’ve got great kids, all mature and going on with their own lives now. We like to do family activities together. I’m an enthusiast for the outdoors. I live on the Lynnhaven River in Virginia Beach, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay. … So I really enjoy being outdoors sometimes, family time, family activities.

I’ve got birds in my backyard — eagles that nest, within a couple hundred yards of my window, so I can see them. And I’ve got ospreys that come in within 50 yards and lots of marine activity, [including] dolphins. I like to sometimes just sit and watch the show go past me.

There’s not a whole lot of downtime. But fortunately, those are things you can slip in. It’s a good place to live. It’s a great place to raise a family, and I’ve been very blessed.

Stuart J. Fischer, MD, FAAOS, is an orthopaedic surgeon in private practice in Watchung, New Jersey. He also serves on the AAOS Committee on Ethics and Outside Interests, the Hip Program Committee, and the Digital Health Task Force. Dr. Fischer is a member of the AAOS Now Editorial Board.