Georgia Orthopaedic Society (GOS)


HISTORY OF THE GEORGIA ORTHOPAEDIC SOCIETY


2021 was the year GOS commemorated its 75th anniversary, which was celebrated at the GOS annual meeting, taking place at the Cloister on Sea Island, GA, October 7 - 10, 2021.  The complete history of GOS was presented in print for the first time in its 75th year history.  Listed below is a timeline of key dates and events.


Click HERE for the complete history of GOS booklet.




    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 for 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 stationery 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.
       
    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 Children’s 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, MBA 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-19 vaccines.
       
    2021 75th Anniversary of GOS.  The first time that the GOS History is presented in printed form.



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