IFFAS carries on with tradition

While plans for the 4th Triennial Meeting of the International Federation of Foot & Ankle Societies were thwarted due to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011 in Japan, the organization continues to move forward.

The meeting, scheduled for September 21-23, 2011, was to have marked the transition of the IFFAS presidency from Osny Salomão, MD of Sao Paulo, Brazil to Mitsuo Kinoshita, MD of Osaka, Japan. Instead, the 36th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Surgery of the Foot, scheduled in Nara, Japan to coincide with the IFFAS meeting, became the backdrop for the symbolic transfer.

Yoshinori Takakura, MD, president of the Japanese Society and the first IFFAS president, was on hand for the ceremony. Traveling from Sao Paulo to Nara as a representative of Dr. Salamão, João De Carvalho Neto, MD had the honor of transferring the IFFAS presidential medallion to Dr. Kinoshita during a ceremony at the meeting.

Dr. Neto presents the IFFAS Presidential Medallion to Dr. Kinoshita (L to R) Yoshinori Takakura, MD, Mitsuo Kinoshita, MD, and Joćo De Carvalho Neto, MD

Dates set for 2014 Fifth Triennial Scientific Meeting

The next Triennial IFFAS meeting will be held September 19-21, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. IFFAS Vice President Charles Saltzman, MD will organize the scientific program. The annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society will follow the IFFAS meeting on September 21-23.

History

Triennial Scientific Meetings - The Federation held its founding meeting in October 1999 in Kyoto, Japan, at the triennial meeting of the College International de Medecine et Chirurgie du Pied, an international foot and ankle society which had been founded in 1958.

The 2002 meeting was held in San Francisco, California, USA, the 2005 meeting was held in Naples, Italy, and the 2008 meeting was held in Costa do Sauipe, Bahia, Brazil. In 2011, the meeting site will be held in Nara, Japan.

Organization - Organized on a regional rather than national basis, IFFAS consists of four regional organizations: the Asian Federation of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, the European Foot and Ankle Society, the Latin American Federation and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. IFFAS maintains a secretariat in Rosemont, Illinois, USA.

Please see the Council section of this Web site for information on how to reach the secretariat staff or members of the IFFAS Council.