Education at the "Grass Roots" Level: The Regional Meetings Sponsored by AOPA
Herbert J. Hart *
Fig. 1
In the spring of each year, the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association conducts a series of eleven regional meetings throughout the United States and the Dominion of Canada. These are carefully planned and presented by the Association as a service to orthotists and prosthetists and others interested in care for the orthopedically disabled.
These meetings require a great deal of careful advance planning and hard work to be successful. They are the prime responsibility of the eleven Regional Directors of AOPA. These men put in a great deal of effort for the benefit of other members and readers of the Journal. For this reason and as a very minor recognition of their work, we are publishing their pictures on the cover of this issue of the Journal, and I should like to use my column in this issue to pay tribute to them and to call attention to the sessions they are planning.
Two sessions will have been held by the time this month is over: On March 5 and 6, William McElduff, Director of AOPA Region IV, presided over the sessions at Durham, North Carolina. Region IV covers an area roughly equivalent to the old Confederacy. It includes AOPA members in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and eastern Louisiana. Mr. Bert Titus was Program Chairman for this meeting which brought together over 120 individuals and guests from this region and other regions. Your President was honored by being asked to be Guest Speaker at the Region's Banquet.
Region VIII held its meeting at Shreveport, Louisiana, March 26-28, with AOPA President-Elect David McGraw as Program Chairman and Charles Kymes, Regional Director, presiding. Region VIII covers the states of Texas, all of Louisiana except New Orleans, Oklahoma, Arkansas and New Mexico. Guest Speaker at the session was Mr. Porter S. Garner, President of the Texas Rehabilitation Association.
AOPA Region V. This region will meet April 2, 3 and 4 at the Christopher Inn at Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Bart Crowley of Akron is Regional Director for this area which covers the states of Ohio, West Virginia and Michigan. He has named Mr. Robert Fannin of Columbus, Ohio, as Program Chairman.
Alan Finnieston of Miami. Florida, opens this program with a session on Functional Long Leg Bracing and Application of the Quadrilateral Plastic Ring, followed by discussions on Newer Techniques for Patella Tendon
Bearing Castings and Modification with the Use of the Silicone Rubber Liner and Use of Wax Check Sockets for Above Knee Prostheses.
Dr. Robert B. Larrick will discuss Birth Defects Bracing—When, Why, How Much.
The Immediate Post Operative Fitting of Prostheses is very much a matter of discussion at this time and this region will hear Bert Titus in a presentation of the pros and cons. Mr. Titus is Director of Prosthetics at Duke University Medical Center.
Region III, April 9, 10 and 11. For a number of years Region III of this Association has met jointly with the Pennsylvania Orthopedic-Prosthetic Society and this custom is continuing this year, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Herbert Dankmeyer of Baltimore is Regional Director and Mr. Eugene Watters is Program Chairman. Of special interest to physicians will be the orthotics seminar presented by Mr. Charles Fryer, instructor of orthopedic surgery at Northwestern University Medical School and the report on the Muenster (Hepp-Kuhn) Below-Elbow Prosthesis by Robert Burtch and Hector Kay of New York University. Mr. Lester A. Smith, Executive Director of the Association, will be the luncheon speaker.
This region covers the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, the District of Columbia and Virginia.
AOPA Region VII. This region will meet April 30 to May 1 at the
Kahler Hotel in Rochester, Minnesota. Mr. Donald Bohnenkamp of Omaha, Nebraska, is Regional Director and he has named Mr. Lucius Trautman of Minneapolis, a former President of the Association, as Program Chairman.
The meeting was scheduled at Rochester in order to take advantage of the specialists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. This is our largest region, stretching from the Canadian border to the Oklahoma line and includes the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri (excluding St. Louis, which is in Region VI).
AOPA Region I—New England States. Region I will meet again at the Charterhouse Motel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the scene of last year's meeting. Mr. Howard Mooney is Director of this region which draws from eastern Canada in addition to the New England states.
This meeting, scheduled for May 6 and 7, will include seminars and presentations on A Functional AK Prosthesis for Geriatric Amputees by Dr. Sung J. Liao and AOPA member Alfred Schnell of Hartford, Conn.; Hydraulic Mechanisms and New Developments in Lower Extremity Orthotics by Werner Greenbaum and William McElmurray of the VAPC; The Muenster (Hepp-Kuhn) B/E Prosthesis and the NYU Orthotic Evaluation Program and the Orthotic Measuring Board by Richard Lehneis and Robert Burtch of New York University; and a report on work of the Committee on Advances in Prosthetics and Orthotics by AOPA Vice President Fred Eschen.
AOPA Region II and MOALMA. For many years Region II of AOPA has met with the Metropolitan Orthopedic Appliance and Limb Manufacturers Association. Continuing this practice, the two organizations will hold a joint meeting on May 14 at the Americana Hotel in New York City. Mr. Jack Gold of New York is President of the Metropolitan group and Mr. Benedict Pecorella of Buffalo is AOPA Regional Director. The region covers the states of New York and New Jersey.
AOPA Region IX. This region covers the states of Arizona and Southern California. Its meeting this year will be in the Lafayette Hotel in Long Beach, California. Mr. Leroy Noble of Whittier, California, who is Director, has named Mr. Stanlay Carlton of Sherman Oaks as Program Chairman. Although limited geographically, from the standpoint of members, this is AOPA's leading region. Region IX will meet June 5-6.
AOPA Region X. Region X covering the states of Nevada, Utah and Northern California will meet at the Palace Hotel June 11 and 12. The Palace Hotel was the scene of the AOPA National Assembly in 1956. Several previous regional meetings have also been held there.
Mr. Earl Cummings of Sacramento is Regional Director.
Mr. Ted W. Smith, President of the American Board for Certification, attended this meeting.
AOPA Region XI. This region covers the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and the Province of British Columbia. Mr. William Bartels of Portland, Oregon, is Regional Director and Morris Dodge of Seattle is Program Chairman. The National AOPA will be represented by Mr. M.P. Cestaro, Secretary-Treasurer of the Association, at this meeting in Portland, Oregon on June 18-19.
AOPA Region VI. Region VI is the last of the eleven regions to hold their annual meeting. This is later than usual but the region graciously re-arranged its schedule so that there might be no conflict in dates with any of the other regions.
Mr. John DeBender of Chicago is Regional Director and his area covers the states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and St. Louis, Missouri. The Flying Carpet, 6465 Mannheim Road, Rosedale, Illinois is the site of the region's meeting June 25-26.
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