O&P Library > Orthotics and Prosthetics > 1958, Vol 12, Num 4 > pp. 18 - 19

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Karl Buschenfeldt And Dr. Hoover Picked As Leaders

Limb and Brace Profession Convenes At Miami Beach and Havana

The Limb and Brace Profession of the United States met in National Assembly at Miami Beach, Florida, October 26 to 30, and held its first Pan-American session at Havana, Cuba, October 31 and November 1st. Members and guests of the Orthopedic Appliance and Limb Manufacturers Association spent long hours, discussing technical details, improved appliances and better procedures - all "dedicated to serving the handicapped."

In the Miami Beach national session held in the Eden Roc Hotel, the Association elected this group of experienced officers: President, Karl Buschenfeldt of Stoughton, Massachusetts; Vice Presidents, Paul Leimkuehler of Cleveland and Ralph Storrs of Kankakee. Illinois, and Secretary-Treasurer, M.P. Cestaro of Washington, D.C.

The American Board for Certification, which met at the same time, reelected Dr. Roy M. Hoover as President and chose W. Frank Harmon of Atlanta, as Vice President.

In Karl Buschenfeldt, the Association has chosen as its leader one of the distinguished orthotists of the United States. For many years he was head of the brace establishment at Massachusetts General Hospital. With his son, Herman E. Buschenfeldt, he now operates certified facilities at Boston and Stoughton, Massachusetts.

Mr. Buschenfeldt has long been interested in the training of orthotists and many of the men who studied this field under his supervision and in his establishment now operate their own facilities. Mr. Buschenfeldt is a former member of the American Board for Certification and was Vice President in 1956-1957. (Leadership comes easily to this family - Mrs. Karl Buschenfeldt is the new Vice President of the Ladies' Auxiliary.)

OALMA Board of Directors met with national officers during the Assembly and approved plans for an expansion of member services. A new full-time assistant will be added to the Washington staff to work out training programs for orthotists and prosthetists (and to carry out the examination schedule of the American Board for Certification). The OALMA Committee on Advances in Prosthetics is to expand its activities in cooperation with the National Research Council's Prosthetics Research Program.

Resource Persons

Both formal and informal discussions at the Assembly benefited from the attendance of these experts who had been invited as "resource persons":

Dr. Robert E. Stewart, Director of the Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service, U.S. Veterans' Administration.

Harry Katz, Supervisor, Amputee and Homebound Unit, New York City District Office. New York State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

W. Kenneth Lane, M.D., Consultant, Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center Services, The National Foundation.

Harold W. Glattly, M.D., Secretary, Committee on Prosthetics Education and Information, Prosthetics Research Program.

Maurice J. Fletcher, Colonel, U.S.A., Director of the Army Prosthetics Research Laboratory.

Charles O. Bechtol, M.D., Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Los Angeles.

OALMA Holds National Assembly

During the Assembly period members and guests heard many technical papers, and took part in informal conferences with the speakers ( Fig. 1 ).

Before adjourning, the Orthopedic Appliance and Limb Manufacturers Association took formal note of the contribution to the success of the Assembly which these participants had made. By resolution the Association expressed its gratitude and warm thanks to these speakers and resource persons:

O&P Library > Orthotics and Prosthetics > 1958, Vol 12, Num 4 > pp. 18 - 19