 | The mission of the GOS Foundation is to advance the orthopedic education and well-being of patients, orthopedic surgeons, and residents in orthopedic training programs.
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OUR HISTORY
THE HISTORY OF THE GEORGIA ORTHOPAEDIC SOCIETY IN A TIME-LINE
The Georgia Orthopaedic Society Foundation maintains the Georgia Orthopaedic Society's history and prints the booklets as needed.
| 1897 | The first orthopaedic surgeon in Georgia, Mike Hoke, MD, arrives in Atlanta. He was one of the founders of the Scottish Rite Hospital and the first medical director and chief surgeon. |
| 1918 | J. Hiram Kite, MD began working with Dr. Hoke and succeeded him as chief surgeon in 1928 |
| 1919 | A new 50 bed Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children was built in Decatur, Ga |
| 1927 | Future president Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was afflicted with polio, established the Georgia Warm Springs Foundation and hired Dr. Hoke to be chief surgeon. |
| 1932 | FDR In his first year as president had the 'little white house' built in Warm Springs for his frequent visits with wife Eleanor. |
| 1933 | President FDR asked Dr. Charles Edwin Irwin to succeed Dr. Hoke as chief surgeon at Warm Springs. He established a training program which became a popular rotation for Duke and MCG residents. Dr. Irwin was widely published in post -polio syndrome and was a skilled hand surgeon. He was the first Georgia orthopaedist to be invited to join the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Ed and Mabel Irwin became dear friends with FDR and Eleanor and they spent much time in the 'little white house'. |
| 1945 | FDR died in the' little white house' while sitting for a portrait. Dr. Irwin gave the eulogy at the Warm Springs memorial service. |
| 1945 | The first orthopaedic residency program in Georgia was established at MCG in Augusta |
| 1946 | Charles 'Ed' Irwin founded the Georgia Orthopaedic Society and the first meeting was held June 19, 1946 at Warm Springs with 12 founding orthopaedic surgeons present. |
| 1946 | The second Georgia orthopaedic residency program at Emory University was founded. The department chief was Robert P. Kelly, MD, one of the GOS founding members. |
| 1948 | First annual meeting on the Georgia coast at the King and Prince Hotel. The annual meeting did not leave the coast until 2004 when the Cloister closed for renovations. |
| 1949 | Dr. Irwin was in an MVA and fractured his femoral neck. No meeting was held that year. |
| 1953 | First constitution and Bylaws and the annual meeting was held for the first time at the Cloister. |
| 1954 | The first year an outside guest speaker was invited to the annual meeting |
| 1958 | The annual meeting moved to the Cloister permanently and only left temporarily in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2009. In those years the meeting was held at the Ritz Lodge at Lake Oconee. |
| 1958 | Dr. Floyd 'Ted' Blivens, MCG Residency program director, began the tradition of a Resident paper competition at each annual meeting. The award for first place was $50. |
| 1958 | Dr. Irwin left Warm Springs and was recruited to Georgia Baptist Hospital in Atlanta by Dr. Wood Lovell. He set up practice with Dr. Darius Flinchum to train residents |
| 1959 | Dr. Wood Lovell was president of GOS and became medical director of the Scottish Rite in 1965. |
| 1960 | Dr. Ruth Waring was the first woman to become president of GOS. She and her husband Tom were both orthopaedic surgeons in Savannah and both were founding members of GOS. |
| 1961 | The first 'Silver Bowl' trophy was given to the winner of the Diagnostic Quiz, which later became the Pathology Quiz in 1980. |
| 1962 | Dr. Jim Funk, founder of Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic, was president of GOS. In 2005 the annual Distinguished Service Award was established and named after Dr. Funk. |
| 1966 | The third residency program in Georgia, the Georgia Baptist Medical Center, became a 'full residency'. It was established by Dr. Richard King and Dr. Wood Lovell. |
| 1968 | The GOS Executive Committee (later to become the Board of Directors) added a 4th position, President-Elect. |
| 1970 | The major discussion at the annual meeting was Relative Value Units (RVU's) for Medicare. |
| 1972 | Dr. Lovell leaves private practice to be full time director of the SRH |
| 1972 | Dr. Jack Hughston became the first Board of Councilors rep from Georgia |
| 1975 | Dr. Grady Clinkscales obtained CME credits from the Medical Association of Georgia or the GOS annual meeting. |
| 1975 | Dr. Hamilton Holmes became the first African-American orthopaedist to join GOS. He was one of the first two black students admitted to UGA in '61 and was the first African-American student admitted to the Emory University School of Medicine. |
| 1976 | The Scottish Rite Hospital moves to its new location at Northside |
| 1977 | Waldo Floyd, Jr, MD was Sec-Treas of GOS and his son, Waldo the third, became Sec-Treas in 2006. |
| 1978 | 125 GOS members and 40 orthopaedists attended the annual meeting. |
| 1978 | Dr. Robert Wells, BOC rep, elected Chair of the AAOS Board of Councilors. |
| 1979 | Dr. Lamar Fleming presented the first paper on knee arthroscopy at the annual meeting entitled 'Band Aid Knee surgery'. |
| 1980 | The major discussion at the annual meeting was ABOS Recertification. The AAOS and GOS opposed recertification. |
| 1980 | GOS finally had official stationary and a society seal which was created at the direction of Charles Freeman, MD in Augusta. |
| 1981 | Dr. Robert Wells was the first Georgia orthopaedist to become President of the AAOS. |
| 1982 | The fourth orthopaedic residency program was founded at the Eisenhower Medical Center at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga |
| 1982 | First Pictorial Membership Directory |
| 1986 | Georgia Ortho Political Action Committee established |
| 1987 | GOS objected to Same-Day admission for major surgery |
| 1987 | The Cloister charges at the annual meeting were $18,464 and by 2013 increased to $96,830 |
| 1988 | Bill Collins, MD, was president of GOS. He was president of the Southern Orthopaedic Association in 1987. He became president of MAG in 1990 and president of OREF in 1991. He later founded and became president of The Mike Hoke Society and was one of the founders of MAG Mutual Insurance Co. |
| 1989 | GOS increased to 222 members |
| 1990 | GOS recommended to all members that we should all treat AIDS patients |
| 1990 | GOS first participated in the National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC) |
| 1991 | The Georgia Society for Surgery of the Hand was founded and the Society meets annually with GOS |
| 1993 | The first combined meeting at the Cloister with the Tennessee Orthopaedic Association |
| 1993 | First GOS Newsletter. Dr. Charlie Hubbard was Editor. |
| 1993 | GOS 501(c)3 Corporation established |
| 1994 | The first year the band 'Headliners' played at the annual meeting Dinner/Dance and returned for the next 15 years |
| 1994 | First GOS Executive Secretary Pam Folsom |
| 1995 | The GOS annual meeting had six meeting sponsors but they were only allowed recognition, no booths. |
| 1995 | The Executive Committee added the position MAG Rep. Steve Mccollam, MD was the first to hold the position |
| 1996 | 50th Anniversary Meeting with 95 Orthopaedic attendees |
| 1996 | The Executive Committee officially became the Board of Directors |
| 1996 | Dr. Tom Price wins his first state senate seat |
| 1998 | Merger of the Scottish Rite Hospital Northside with Egleston Children's Hospital becoming Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta |
| 1999 | Second combined annual meeting at the Cloister with the Tennessee Orthopaedic Association |
| 1999 | GOS voted to allow D.O.'s to the membership |
| 1999 | GOS hired its first Lobbyist |
| 1999 | Ms Sherri Hill replaced Pam Folsom as Executive Director (no longer Secretary) |
| 1999 | First Orthopaedic P.A. attends the annual meeting |
| 2001 | Annual Resident Paper Award named after Thomas E. Whitesides, MD. He was the first Georgia Orthopaedist to be awarded the AAOS Kappa Delta Award for outstanding basic science research. |
| 2001 | First year annual meeting sponsors allowed to exhibit. |
| 2002 | Third combined annual meeting at the Cloister with the Tennessee Orthopaedic Association |
| 2002 | The Board of Directors added 3 more positions: Membership Chair, Legislative Chair, and Public Relations Chair. |
| 2003 | GOS was honored with the AAOS State Orthopaedic Society of the Year Award. Dr. Frank Kelly was president |
| 2003 | First Spring Senior Residents Conference organized by Dr. Champ Baker. It was held at Callaway Gardens |
| 2004 | First annual meeting away from the Cloister since 1958. It was held at the Ritz Lodge at Lake Oconee. The Cloister closed for renovations and preparation for the G8 summit with President Bush. |
| 2004 | First sub-specialty 'Breakout Sessions' at the annual meeting. They were repeated in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. They were abandoned due to logistical difficulties. |
| 2004 | The Board of Directors added 2 more positions: Member-at-Large and Residency Chair. |
| 2005 | First Jim Funk, MD Distinguished Service Award. It was presented to State Senator Preston Smith. |
| 2006 | Dr. Frank Kelly wins the Funk Award. He was also the 3rd Georgia Board of Councilors rep to be elected Chair of the AAOS Board of Councilors |
| 2007 | Dr. Jim Roberson was President of GOS and Residency Program Director at Emory. He became ABOS President in 2017. |
| 2007 | Waldo Floyd, III, MD, was elected president of GOS, 26 years after his father served as GOS president |
| 2007 | Georgia 'BONES' group established for Orthopaedic Administrators and Managers |
| 2007 | Liz Neary named Executive Director of GOS |
| 2008 | BONES changes name to the Georgia Association for Orthopaedic Executives |
| 2008 | John Seiler, MD elected president of the ABOS |
| 2008 | Steven Kane, MD becomes Chair of the Atlanta Medical Center Residency Program |
| 2008 | Don Bolia hired as GOS lobbyist. He continues as lobbyist in 2021 |
| 2009 | Danny Guy, MD was president of GOS. He was the 4th Georgia Board of Councilors Rep to be elected Chair of the AAOS Board of Councilors. He was elected President of the AAOS in 2020. |
| 2009 | First year GOS participates in the 'Doctor of the Day' program at the state Capitol during the Legislative Session |
| 2010 | The annual meeting was planned for Amelia Island but emergently had to be moved to the Cloister within 3 weeks before the meeting. |
| 2010 | A fundraiser for Nathan Deal was held at the annual meeting. He served two terms as Governor of Georgia |
| 2011 | The Whiteside Award was first given to 3 Residents with a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. |
| 2012 | The annual meeting Dinner/Dance changed from formal attire to beachside casual |
| 2012 | The Spring Senior Residents Conference was held for the first time since 2003 |
| 2013 | Doug Lundy, MD was president of GOS. He completed the AAOS Leadership Fellows Program and was elected president of ABOS in 2018 |
| 2013 | GOS was financially stable enough to start a yearly Contingency Fund |
| 2014 | Dr. Steven Kane was added to the BOD as Residency Chair and by 2020 the Senior Residents Conference was a Regional event with Residents from programs in 5 states attending. |
| 2015 | Celebrated the 70th Anniversary of GOS. Dr. Wendell Duncan was president |
| 2015 | 'Breakfast with a Mentor' begins on Friday morning of each annual meeting. The GOS presidential guest speaker and the GSSH guest speaker review cases with attendees. |
| 2015 | U.S. Representative Tom Price, MD was presented with the Funk Distinguished Service Award by president Kay Kirkpatrick, MD, who received the Funk Award herself in 2018. Dr. Kirkpatrick was the first female orthopaedist in America to become a State Senator. |
| 2016 | Second female orthopaedic surgeon, Kay Kirkpatrick,MD, elected president of GOS. Ruth Waring, MD was the first in 1960 |
| 2016 | The GOS Board of Directors had 3 women who also led the Perry Initiative, encouraging young women to enter the fields of medicine and engineering |
| 2016 | 500 active GOS members |
| 2016 | New GOS logo, keeping Andry's tree and adding the 3-fold mission of GOS: Advocacy, Relationships, Education. |
| 2017 | Jim Barber, MD was president of GOS. He completed the AAOS Leadership Fellows Program and MAG's Georgia Physician Leadership Academy. |
| 2017 | Wendell Duncan, MD started a biannual program visiting all 4 Georgia orthopaedic residency programs presenting the importance of the state orthopaedic societies, as well as the importance of giving to the PAC'S. Also, in this presentation the residents are invited to the annual meeting and the senior residents conference. |
| 2017 | Brad Bushnell, MD led the formation and passage of a Sports Medicine Bill through the state legislature which was signed into law by Governor Deal. |
| 2018 | Sponsorship at the annual meeting increased to 33 companies and 125 orthopaedists were registered. |
| 2018 | The Spouse Breakfast on Saturday morning of each annual meeting was changed to the Family Hospitality Breakfast held at the Beach Club. |
| 2018 | Due to the GOS membership growth, a third BOC Rep was added, Leland McCluskey, MD, who was GOS president in 2011 |
| 2019 | The Opioid Epidemic was at its peak and Dr. Kelly Homlar led a PR team who developed an educational poster to be placed in every orthopaedic office in the state |
| 2019 | The GOS Foundation established |
| 2020 | The Year of COVID 19. The AAOS annual meeting was cancelled as well as NOLC. It was the first year that the GOS annual meeting was held 'virtually'. |
| 2021 | The AAOS annual meeting moved to August to give the nation time to receive Covid vaccines. |
| 2021 | 75th Anniversary of GOS. The first time that the GOS History is presented in printed form. |