The AOA’s premier podcast provides insights on topics critical to orthopaedic leaders, as hosts Charles A. Goldfarb, MD, FAOA and Alexander Aleem, MD interview key AOA members, Emerging Leaders, and CORD affiliates.

Subscribe to the Lessons in Orthopaedic Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Podcast Episodes: Season Two - Listen Now

Mark Schultzel, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in shoulder and elbow surgery at Synergy Orthopedic Specialists Medical Group, shares his experiences pursuing an MBA while growing a practice.

Episode Highlights

  • Orthopaedic perspectives and factors to consider when choosing an MBA program vs. an Executive MBA program
  • Balancing the time commitment of pursuing further education while building a practice
  • Avenues and opportunities an MBA education provides

Air Date: November 21, 2020

A discussion about the varying aspects of leadership with Terry R. Light, MD, FAOA. Recognized by his peers as an AOA Pillar of the Orthopaedic Profession, Dr. Light shares insights from his impressive and meaningful career, which includes mentoring orthopaedic surgery faculty and trainees over the last 43 years.

Episode Highlights:

  • Vision vs. mission
  • Different kinds of leadership
  • Leading during periods of change
  • Reaching out to encourage future leaders

Air Date: October 24, 2020

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Cassandra A. Lee, MD, FAOA, an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Residency Program Director, and Chief of Sports Medicine at the University of California Davis, discusses how programs are planning to support residency applicants during the COVID-19 pandemic in this two-part episode.

Episode Topics (Part One)

  • The advantages and limitations of virtual recruitment, including social media
  • The virtual process’ timeline and its impact on department staff and faculty
  • Planning for the use of virtual rotations after COVID-19 subsides
  • Structural changes that can ensure a successful virtual process

Air Date: September 23, 2020

Episode Topics (Part Two)

  • Additional applications questions/essays to consider
  • Ways for applicants (and programs) to stand out
  • The interview process
  • Holistic Review Process for applications
  • Prioritizing diversity

Air Date: September 30, 2020 (Part Two)

Gabriella Ode, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon specializing in knee, shoulder, and elbow surgery at Prisma Health, joins the AOA Podcast for a frank conversation on diversity.

Episode Topics (Part One)

  • The impact of early exposure to orthopaedics on underrepresented populations in orthopaedics
  • Roles of mentors and advocates
  • Fighting back about the misconceptions about diversity
  • Moving beyond tokenism
  • Diversity and recruitment

Air Date: August 6, 2020

Episode Topics (Part Two)

The measures that are being taken to increase diversity and inclusion in orthopaedics

  • AOA’s initiatives to bring issues to a national level
  • COVID-19’s impact on recruitment and how that impacts diversity in residency programs
  • Dr. Ode shares her advice to her younger self and gives her thoughts on how others can help create change

Air Date:  August 28, 2020

Rear Admiral Bruce L. Gillingham, MD, FAOA, Surgeon General of the US Navy, Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and an orthopaedic surgeon, joins AOA hosts Charles A. Goldfarb, MD, FAOA, and Alexander Aleem, MD for a vibrant discussion on leadership.

Episode Topics:

  • Book recommendations for developing leaders
  • Asking interview questions to learn deeply about your candidate
  • Key lessons on teams from operational successes in Iraq that the civilian surgeon can learn from
  • Advice for orthopaedic surgeons looking to become leaders
  • His personal leadership journey
  • COVID-19 and the Navy

Air Date: July 1, 2020

Podcast Episodes: Season One - Listen Now

Lee R. Leddy, MD, FAOA, Chair of the 2020 CORD Conferences, shares insights with program hosts about how the CORD Program planned to adapt to 2020 limitations.

Episode Topics:

  • Benefits of The American Orthopaedic Association’s Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors (CORD) program
  • The success of the virtual Spring CORD Conference (a virtual conference with 250+ attendees)
  • Plans for moving forward

Air Date: May 21, 2020

Daniel B. Murrey, MD, MPP, FAOA, Chief Medical Officer for Surgical Care Affiliates and President, Optum Specialty Practices about his symposium for the Virtual 2020 AOA Annual Meeting, Can We Align Conflicting Agendas: Medical Education and Value-Based Care.

Episode Topics

  • The focus on performance-based contracts in the U.S. by Medicare, Medicaid, and other payors, and implementation of value-based care
  • A discussion of resident/fellows training as it conflicts with value-based care.
  • This expert panel addresses questions regarding balancing the conflicting agendas of medical education of residents and fellows and the move toward value-based care.

Air Date: May 15, 2020

Ann Van Heest, MD, FAOA moderated a panel discussion taking place during the 2020 CORD Conference in June 2020.

Episode Topics

Dr. Van Heest provides a high-level overview on the AOA’s Council of Orthopaedic Residency Directors (CORD) Program, including:

  • Its collaboration with the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS) to standardize knowledge testing during residency as we move toward competency-based education.
  • How the symposium structure will provide a discussion of how to improve assessment during residency in order to have a consistent language across programs:
    • medical knowledge
    • patient-care skills
    • professional behavior

Air Date: May 8, 2020

William Obremskey, MD, FAOA, moderated the 2020 AOA Annual Meeting, Symposium: How to Assess Quality in an Expanding Healthcare System in June 2020.

Episode Highlights

Within growing health care systems and the focus on value, Dr. Obremsky and his panel of experts, lead an overview of five quality measures essential for program staff to be aware of.

Air Date: May 2, 2020

In this conversation, Jonathan P. Braman, MD, FAOA,  describes key points from the 2020 AOA Annual Leadership Meeting Symposium: Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Women and Minorities in Orthopaedics.

Episode Topics

Dr. Braman discusses:

  • Key challenges of recruiting and retaining women and under-represented minorities in orthopaedic surgery
  • The importance of diversity within orthopaedic healthcare
  • How he developed his interest in this topic
  • Highlighting the contributions of panelists: Katherine Gerull, MD; Scott E. Porter, MD, MBA, FACS, FAOA; and Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD

Air Date: April 25, 2020

Rex C. Haydon, MD, FAOA, 2020 Annual Leadership Meeting Program Chair discusses the benefits of the AOA’s unique annual event.

Episode Topics

Key takeaways from the podcast include:

  • How the AOA Annual Meeting provides leadership development and GME education
  • How leadership content differs from the clinical aspects of other orthopaedic meetings (lectures, discussions, and critical issues symposia)
  • Benefits of attending for surgeons across the career spectrum benefit
    • Early career surgeons gain career-boosting insights from increased leadership development and networking

Air Date: April 19, 2020

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Special thanks to Peter Martin of Peter Martin Music, Inc for the jazz introduction and conclusion.