A welcome return to on-site education: Four AO Recon faculty members complete CEP in Zurich

Four AO Recon faculty members from Europe have further advanced along the AO faculty development path with their completion of the Chairperson Education Program (CEP), including a two-day, face-to-face event in Zurich, Switzerland.

Following 5 weeks of online preparations including study and discussions of topics ranging from the chairperson’s role and tasks to addressing learners’ gaps and faculty management, the AO Recon CEP participants welcomed a return to face-to-face faculty development when they gathered—along with delegates from AO Trauma, AO Spine, AO CMF, and AO VET—on February 25–26, 2022, for the on-site portion of the program in Zurich. The AO Recon faculty members who attended the event were Plamen Kinov, Bulgaria; George Macheras, Greece; Krisztian Sisak, Hungary; and Dinko Vidović, Croatia.

“In line with our commitment to providing best-in-class education in joint preservation and replacement, AO Recon offers its faculty the opportunity to participate in the AO’s unique career pathway through faculty development programs,” says AO Recon Education Forum Chairperson Bas Masri.

The AO Recon faculty members who attended the CEP in Zurich are unanimous in their praise.

“Being part of the AO orthopedic network means a lot more than just competence. AO is a school of thought that has a unique spirit much revered among orthopedic surgeons worldwide. As such, anything connected to the AO has a great value for me. The AO CEP event in Zurich fit nicely in this line,” says Kinov, who is a professor and the chairman of the orthopedics department at the Medical University of Sofia. “There, we were able to meet old friends and make new ones; exchange ideas as always at AO events; and learn new concepts—this time about effective teaching.”

Sisak, an orthopedic surgeon in private practice in Szegad, also appreciated the CEP.

“It was a great experience to attend the CEP. We not only met many professionals from all facets of AO education, but the CEP highlighted for me and others two essential things: the importance of faculty selection and the precourse meeting.”

Macheras, a consultant orthopedic surgeon and head of the orthopedics department at KAT Attica General Hospital in Athens, also speaks highly of the event.

“It was a well-organized course with the appropriate number of didactics and a friendly atmosphere,” he says, adding that he particularly enjoyed the discussions and group collaboration on the second day of the on-site CEP event. “In total, I have positive feelings about this course.”

Vidović, an orthopedic and trauma surgeon at St Catherine Specialty Hospital in Zagreb, says the CEP has helped him think about the learning process and how to efficiently run courses.

“I will definitely use backward planning as a tool in the courses that I chair in the future, and I will more easily deal with the problems that might occur prior to or even during the course and solve them in the best possible way,” he says.

Masri says AO Recon plans to offer an increasing number of faculty the opportunity to participate in AO faculty development events in all regions.