AO Past President Robert McGuire: "Surgeon volunteerism is the greatest thing the AO has to offer"

What brought about your introduction to the AO?

I was introduced to the AO during my orthopedic training in 1980 by my residency chairman who had attended an AO Trauma course in Davos. He brought back an IM [intramedullary] femoral nail set after the course and the fixation techniques textbooks that became our “bible” during residency training. Up until that time, we had been placing patients in balanced traction with internal fixation scheduled for a later time. We had also been treating many fractures with cast immobilization. After we obtained this instrumentation, we never used balanced traction unless there were unusual circumstances that prevented immediate IM nail stabilization. We also began using internal fixation routinely to stabilize most other fractures.

How would you qualify your advancement as an AO surgeon?

I developed the skill set using the AO principles of internal fixation during my residency and my fellowship. As a spine surgeon, I could apply the concepts of the AO principles to my patients. Rigid fixation, anatomical alignment, protection of blood supply, and rapid mobilization could be used in these patients as well, which allowed me to develop instrumentation and techniques to treat fractures and degenerative spine conditions using the same principles of long-bone fractures.

What were the highlights of your three-year tenure as the AO President?

As the president of this surgeon-run organization, I was fortunate to have had an extra year in office because of the COVID-19 pandemic. During that time, due to lack of face-to-face courses, we had to make the transition to digital format for our education program. We developed online teaching modules for our faculty and online course modules for our learners. We rebranded our organization and introduced standardized accounting and a fiscal accountability structure to our organization. We negotiated a continuation of the partnership contract with DePuy Synthes. We found a place in the organizational structure for AO Recon, started the AO Sports initiative with a unique course offering, and launched the mentorship program with AO Access to enhance diversity and inclusion. I use the pronoun “we” because this was done with many individuals using their talents to make all these things happen. Even though there were occasional disagreements, a compromise that was in the best interest of the organization was always found. I have been very fortunate to have had an excellent AO Foundation Board and CEO [Christoph Lindenmeyer], who supported my vision during my presidential tenure.