Speaker: Stuart L. Weinstein, MD, FAAOS
What motivated you to volunteer with AAOS, and how has that experience contributed to your professional or leadership growth?
Stuart L. Weinstein, MD, FAAOS: Over the past 40 years, I've been involved with a wide variety of activities with the Academy and never regretted a single moment. It's allowed me to feel that I'm part of something bigger than myself, part of something bigger than my department in which I work at the University of Iowa, and also, it's given me the opportunity to know that I'm advancing the profession, that I'm helping to preserve the doctor-patient relationship.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to younger members about getting involved with AAOS or who might not thing they’re ready?
Stuart L. Weinstein, MD, FAAOS: For young members, you have something to contribute right away. Your perspective on practice, your perspective on life, your perspective on the doctor-patient relationship, your perspective on education, and advocacy, are really important So don't think you're ever too young or too inexperienced to volunteer. Look through the CAP process, see what activities are available. One strong piece of advice I'd give is don't get involved or volunteer for something you really don't care about, just to get involved. You wanna be involved with activities where you're passionate about, you really care about the issue or the task at hand. And I think you'll find this is a really good way to start your life with the Academy, and I hope you'll want to continue that throughout your professional life.
In what ways do you see volunteer service as a professional responsibility or an extension of leadership within our profession?
Stuart L. Weinstein, MD, FAAOS: I think all of us have a duty to get back in some way to make our profession better for our practices and for our patients. It's one of the most rewarding experiences you ever had to be able to volunteer to meet folks from different areas of the country, different specialties, different interest groups. It broadens your own horizons, but it helps you to view issues that you face on a day-to-day basis, in a very different way and if people don't volunteer and don't feel this sense of responsibility, the profession and our patients and their access to our care and also the quality of care we can provide will suffer.
What role do you believe volunteer leadership plays in strengthening and guiding the future of our profession?
Stuart L. Weinstein, MD, FAAOS: This is a member-driven organization. Staff can carry out the responsibilities that the board of directors, which are representing the members, determined to be important for our patients and our practices, but every one of us needs to contribute in some way to strengthen and guide the future of our profession. We can't leave it to chance. We don't want third parties, government, insurance companies telling us how to practice medicine. We need to be in the driver's seat. We need to
