The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is floating an update to its bylaws, but the move has some surgeons worried about how changes will affect members long term.
Modernization is the primary motivation for the proposed bylaw updates, AAOS President Ned Amendola, MD, told Becker’s. One way the organization is doing that is by streamlining bylaws from 60 pages to just under 20 pages, he said.
“The bylaws have not been altered for decades, and things are changing everywhere around us in all areas of orthopedics in terms of practice, legislation and technological advancement. There’s so much change occurring in the way surgeons are educated and the way surgeons practice,” Dr. Amendola said.
Several orthopedic groups have expressed support for the proposed bylaws including the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, Ohio Orthopaedic Society and Vermont Orthopaedic Society.
However some orthopedic surgeons are hesitant.
Kevin Plancher, MD, told Becker’s he has concerns with proposed changes that he feels would unfairly affect the power balance between members and leadership.
The new proposed bylaws include measures that would remove the right to run for office outside the Nominating Committee, remove orthopedic fellows’ rights to propose resolutions, allow the board to change bylaws with a majority vote and allow members to be removed without cause along with other changes that Dr. Plancher said would centralize power with the AAOS board of directors.
Dr. Plancher said he’s worked with past AAOS leaders to encourage members to learn more about the proposed changes.
“I believe in an equal voice for people, an equal representation,” Dr. Plancher told Becker’s. “And I don’t believe that has been done, and I hope that people get educated and then make a decision. If they’re undecided or confused, take a pause, re-evaluate, because suddenly there’s great transparency. Now we can figure out that middle ground, because that always is the answer.”
Dr. Plancher also said he was unhappy with a proposed bylaw that would remove voting privileges from emeritus members, only allowing paying members to vote.
Robert McLain, MD, echoed the concern over emeritus voting privileges. The AAOS has almost 40,000 members, Dr. Amendola said. Some are early in their careers and others are emeritus members.
Dr. McLain, who has been a member of the AAOS since 1987 and went into emeritus status last year, said he understands Dr. Amendola’s intention but feels there are better ways to approach the challenge.
“You’re quite capable of getting younger and more active and invested without disenfranchising a whole segment of your population,” Dr. McLain told Becker’s. “The only thing that’ll do is it’ll make it look like we have a bigger percentage of the membership because we just decided not to count 1,000 people, but I don’t think that helps anything. The environment in medical practice these days is different than it was five years ago. People are taking an emeritus position because their job has been eliminated. There’s no place for them to practice meaningfully. In some cases, medical centers are consolidating, and they’re not hiring people. So not everybody that goes for an emeritus position is doing it because they’re just finished working. It’s just that they don’t have practice and they don’t have an income anymore.”
One idea Dr. McLain, who is president of the Western Orthopaedic Foundation, floated with AAOS leadership is to have a small fee for emeritus members so they can retain their voting rights.
Dr. Amendola told Becker’s that the AAOS has been transparent about proposed changes from the beginning and that the suggested move to only allow paying members to vote on matters is to encourage more involvement among early career members.
“The purpose of these changes is really to support our membership,” Dr. Amendola said. “We’re a membership-driven organization, and it’s really to help and do things that will be better for the active membership. One of the proposed changes is that only active members will be allowed to vote on future changes. Right now, active members and emeritus members can vote so emeritus members that are not working, not in practice, and not paying dues, are allowed to vote. And there’s very few organizations where that occurs.”
If the proposed bylaws pass, emeritus members can still participate on committees and be involved in any part of the organization, Dr. Amendola said. Emeritus status is a voluntary position.
Member voting on the purpose bylaws are underway and will be open for about 30 days, a spokesperson for the AAOS said.
The AAOS had details about the proposed bylaws for members here.
