Michel Levadoux - Presidential address - 2022
Dear friends,
Dear IWAS members,
I am grateful to the board members who have done me the honor of selecting me as the IWAS President for 2022-23.
As a former military orthopedic surgeon who served in the French Navy for many years, nothing could have prepared me for such an honor. I have always been interested in wrist surgery and have always wanted to specialize in this field. As a student of Christophe Mathoulin since 2000, I was fortunate to work alongside him during the creation of our Society in 2005. At that time, it was a Franco-European society with the purely French name of GEAP (Groupe Européen d'Arthroscopie du Poignet). The incredible success of this learned society led to its transformation into a full-fledged European society (EWAS – European Wrist Arthroscopy Society), whose rapid development was supported by a network of first-rate international courses. This success story was made possible by an amazing network of international experts, all of whom are driven by a fierce desire to pass on their experience in wrist arthroscopy. But what has truly allowed this magnificent organization to thrive is the fraternity and friendship between these experts and their students. Over time, the demand for courses started to come from outside Europe, spreading beyond the borders of the "Old Continent". Courses were created in Brazil, Taiwan, South Africa and Hong Kong, mainland China but also in Russia and the USA. Europe had become too “narrow”—the IWAS was born. But the philosophy of this Society remains the same: to promote, teach and develop wrist surgery throughout the world with a focus on arthroscopy and other techniques that will provide the best patient care.
During the last FESSH conference, some of you were troubled by the notion of the EWAS’ re-establishment. Let's make no mistake, the IWAS is OUR learned society until further notice, and the re-establishment of EWAS was only a temporary scheme. That ship has sailed, there is no going back.
IWAS will be able to expand throughout the world thanks to a network of courses in partnership with IRCAD (France, Brazil, Taiwan, Rwanda, China and soon USA and India), but also courses organized by other groups. These courses will be supplemented by webinars, masterfully supervised by Eva Maria Baur – the first IWAS President – and Mireia Esplugas, who have worked miracles since this platform was created.
At the same time, I want to focus on certain things during my mandate: - Participate in IRCAD courses but also in affiliated courses during 2022 and 2023 - Encourage interactions between reference centers - Work on the writing of an eBook on wrist arthroscopy - Forge new relationships with other international societies dedicated to the hand and wrist.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have ideas or concerns about our society.
Warmest regards,
Michel Levadoux
President of IWAS (www.wristarthroscopy.org)
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology Clinique St Roch
Toulon Hyères private hospital
99 Avenue St Roch
83000 TOULON
France Phone: +33620525196
Email: mlevadoux6@outlook.fr
web: www.prlevadoux.fr
