Tyson Cobb - Presidential address - 2018
Dear EWAS Members and Friends,
I am both honored and humbled to be selected as president of this great organization. At my first EWAS conference over a decade ago, I recall how amazed I was at the immense number of extremely talented wrist arthroscopists. It was obvious to me that I had found the world leader in surgeon education and collaboration for wrist and small joint arthroscopy procedures. Since then, I have regarded the EWAS courses as my most important source of wrist arthroscopy education.
It was great to see many of you at the FESSH meeting in Copenhagen. For those who were unable to attend the EWAS assembly, there were a number of important announcements, suggestions, and discussions that I would like to call to your attention.
Firstly, Christophe announced that he would be stepping down as chairman of the Teaching Committee in June 2019.
Some points from his letter are listed here:
When I founded EWAS 14 years ago, with a group of loyal friends, some of whom are here, we couldn’t imagine what this scientific society would become. Almost 15 years later, we have been involved in nearly 22 courses worldwide, we have created a journal (JWS), we wrote 6 books, we participate regularly in numerous National and International Congresses, and we have organized a forum that allows everyone among us to present difficult cases, giving birth to an always fascinating discussion around the world, each one being free to give his own opinion.
But the most impressive is what we have managed to change over the past 15 years in the understanding and treatment of wrist pathologies.
This society EWAS is not mine, it's ours. I am proud of what we’ve accomplished together.
That's why I decided to leave my position as chairman of the « Teaching Committee » at the end of my term in June 2019
Long life EWAS !
Christophe”
I think I speak for all EWAS members when I say that we greatly appreciate everything Christophe Mathoulin has done for our organization. We are deeply indebted to him for the tremendous amount of work he has done for EWAS as well as the energy and enthusiasm he has carried through his many years of service.
Thank you, Christophe, for being such a great leader!
Secondly, Marc Garcia-Elias suggested that EWAS could be affiliated with FESSH. A benefit of this collaboration for EWAS members would include automatic membership to FESSH.
Thirdly, Max Haerle announced that he is working on an expanded wrist arthroscopy session which will (potentially) last a full day at the 2019 combined IFSSH/FESSH meeting in Berlin. In an effort to better plan the session, he is requesting that interested members submit their abstracts. The abstract deadline will be in September 2018.
Finally, there was some discussion of the possibility of expanding the scope of our organization to encourage more membership from outside of Europe. EWAS started out as GEAP. Subsequently it was renamed as GEAP/EWAS. EWAS is truly an international organization with members from 65 different countries. Perhaps a next step could be adding IWAS (International Wrist Arthroscopy Society) to EWAS to more accurately reflect the current status of this growing organization. Nevertheless, I do understand the potential resistance from those who have been involved since the very beginning. Therefore, a new name EWAS/IWAS could be an option.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments or suggestions about any of these matters.
While I have discussed the immense respect I have for the surgical talents of EWAS members, I have yet to express how important the friendships have been. From sharing difficult cases, to enjoying fabulous meals and wine with friends, the EWAS has allowed me to meet and foster meaningful relationships with remarkable people from around the world. Surprisingly, it is this aspect of EWAS that has become increasingly more impactful in recent years. I will close with a thank you to my EWAS family for this great honor to serve as your president for the next year.
With sincere appreciation,
Tyson Cobb
