EFAS Past-President - EFAS Congress 2024

Thank you letter from the EFAS Past-President

Dear all,

 
It has been an honor to serve as EFAS President for the past two years, and I sincerely thank you for your trust. EFAS has grown into a large family with more than 6,000 members and an active educational program. The recent congress in Brussels also demonstrated that we are a vibrant organization. We had a strong turnout, with attendance increasing by more than 30%, showing that our message resonates. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Manuel Monteagudo and the entire Scientific Committee for their dedication, as well as our MCO team, whose efforts were essential to the success of our initiatives.
 
Over the past two years, we have worked hard on our roadmap. From now on, there will be an annual congress, allowing for poster submissions and extended sessions with free papers. We are seeing a steady increase in submissions each year, confirming our scientific leadership. The Certification Program has also been updated, and starting next year, there will be a second path to certification. Thanks to the collaboration between the Specimen Lab Committee and the Educational Committee, candidates can now take the exam by completing five basic cadaver courses and a Basic Instructional Course over two years. We are also advancing our collaboration with various national associations to homologate their curricula.
 
We have also launched several forums, including the Trauma Forum, Diabetes Forum, and Pediatric Forum, aimed at developing consensus statements and EFAS guidelines for our members. Additionally, discussion forums like the Diversity Forum aim to shape EFAS’s future diversity policies. The Diversity Symposium in Brussels filled the room, thanks to the efforts of Elena Samaila and Rick Brown. We have also started a quarterly Presidents’ Forum, where presidents of national associations are invited to share their ideas with EFAS, strengthening cohesion. A concrete outcome of this was the discussion forum at the congress, which led to an EFAS statement on podiatric care in Europe.
 
This year, we also established a Humanitarian Committee. It is EFAS’s responsibility to share our knowledge in regions where foot and ankle surgery is still emerging. Our collaboration with AOFAS is now entering its third year, and we have received requests from other associations to establish cooperative agreements.
 
In the past two years, I have had the opportunity to represent EFAS at our members’ congresses as well as at several international meetings. This is also an important opportunity for our young colleagues, as more and more fellowship opportunities are being organized by our Fellowship Committee. The fellows are, in a sense, ambassadors of our association and represent its future.
 
Traveling has broadened my perspective on our specialty, as we experience diverse medical approaches and rich cultural influences. This has shown me the different perspectives on the pathologies we handle daily. The energy and dynamism lie with the younger generation, and I hope this will encourage our younger colleagues to take full advantage of the fellowship opportunities that EFAS offers.
All these efforts have solidified EFAS’s place on the map. I hope we can continue to build on the open and friendly atmosphere that is such a defining characteristic of EFAS. This openness among colleagues fosters meaningful scientific debate, ultimately benefiting our patients.
I am very pleased that Dr. Thomas Manfred will take over the presidency, and I am confident that he will continue to steer the EFAS ship in the right direction with his own initiatives.

Kind regards,
Kris Buedts
EFAS Immediate Past-President