The AO (Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen) was founded in 1958 by a group of Swiss surgeons: Maurice E. Müller, Robert Schneider, Hans Willenegger, and Martin Allgöwer. Click here for a detailed history of the AO Foundation.
In the late '90s a group of spine surgeons led by John Webb, Max Aebi, and Paul Pavlov supported by the AO's industrial partners pushed for greater autonomy for the spine surgeons within the AO.
In 2000, the Board of Directors of the AO Foundation, having recognized the special needs and the market dynamics of spine, created an AO Specialty Board for Spine Surgery. The AO Spine Board was given responsiblity to grow spine as key competence of the AO Foundation, with a charter to specifically manage and promote the distinctive needs and desires of spine surgeons within the AO.
This specialty group has its own governance for its educational, scientific, product development, and administrative issues while remaining in close collaboration and partnership with the Foundation’s other institutes and regions.
In the last three years AOSpine has gone from strength to strength and established itself as a widely accepted academic and scientific group in the spine world. As Mike Janssen, Chairman AOSpine International states:
| “Spine surgery today is increasingly characterized by a merging of specialties. The old walls separating these specialties are being broken down by the shared goal of advancing the field of spine care." |
The organization has gone through some structural changes in order to rise to the new challenges of spine surgeons around the globe. The AOSpine International Board provides strategic planning and support to the affiliated AOSpine Regions. Each AOSpine region has their own budget, authority, and the responsibility to drive local activities within the AOSpine International framework.
Today AOSpine has a membership of around 8000 surgeons, researchers, and allied spine professionals. AOSpine continues to grow, taking the AO model to a new level by providing new programs, new ideas, and a team committed to spine!
For more information on AOSpine please visit www.aospine.org. |