Dear colleagues

Dive in and read up on our exciting activities

Welcome to the second 2021 edition of FacultyFocus! We invite you to dive in and read up on a variety of AO CMF activities across our global multispecialty community.

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An enriching experience: First-ever AO CMF R&D Junior Reviewers program offers opportunities for young talent

Identifying, engaging, mentoring, and retaining young talent is essential to the future of the AO network, and the new AO CMF R&D Junior Reviewers program does all that—and more. Program participants and mentors in the inaugural program, which got underway in December 2020 and concluded in April 2021, say it was an enriching experience that they would happily repeat.

Good news: FACE AHEAD is coming in 2022

The decision has been made: Due to the massive interest in this unprecedented, boutique-style summit—where interaction between the superstars in craniomaxillofacial (CMF) surgery and participants takes center stage—the organizing committee has decided that FACE AHEAD will take place on May 5–7, 2022, in Barcelona, Spain, in the format originally planned.

The Traveling Mandible: First-ever 24-hour global relay event is a big success

Post-event numbers tell the story: the CMF’s world first-ever nonstop, 24-hour-educational event—the Traveling Mandible on May 29, 2021—was an indisputable global success. Responding to regional needs and covering all aspects of the mandible, the AO CMF Online Campus event attracted 348 participants from 75 countries.

Celebrating ten years of the AO's Faculty Education Program (FEP)

Looking back to exactly ten years ago, June 2–3, 2011, the very first AO Faculty Education Program (FEP) was conducted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

New educational research publications from the clinical divisions and AO Education Institute

Faculty from education task forces in AO CMF, AO VET, and AO Trauma collaborated with curriculum developers and educational research managers at the AO Education Institute and have now published two new articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Are you leading by example?

Diverse teams are the key for a successful organization. Leaders who role model inclusive behavior can change the organization’s ethos and help it achieve cultural parity.

Explore a range of interactive resources through the AO virtual environment

The AO virtual environment supports course participants' learning experience with engaging and easy-to-navigate interactive resources. Explore and share the benefits of the AO’s learning enhancement platform.

myAO—designed for surgeons and by surgeons—is more intuitive than ever with relaunch

The myAO interface has been redesigned—and relaunched—to be more intuitive and provide quick access to the features most relevant to surgeons: case sharing, posting, accessing groups, and scientific expertise.

AO educational event organization update

On June 1, 2021, the AO introduced a new process for delivering our educational events. The change was driven by an organizational change that DePuy Synthes (DPS) made to its AO-related operations: To ensure that it has a compliant global organization, DPS handed over the activities of the DPS local event organizers (LEOs) to the AO.

The AO and RIMASYS partner to benefit the global surgeon community

In March 2021, the AO and RIMASYS Group announced the signing of a long-term strategic partnership.

AO Davos Courses 2021: Save the date

We are preparing to welcome you back to Davos—in person and on-site—for another round of world-class educational offerings, including 28 courses from AO Trauma, AO Spine, AO CMF, AO VET, AO Recon, and AO PEER as well as a virtual weekend of additional online learning opportunities. This year's AO Davos Courses will run from November 28 to December 10. The hybrid event will combine the best in on-site training with additional online learning opportunities. Registration opens on July 5.

10 tips for mindful teaching

Mindfulness, defined as the basic human ability to be fully present and aware of where you are and what you’re doing, can be a way of tackling the growing problem of physician burnout that can lead to a loss of passion for education. In the context of teaching, mindfulness means recognizing learners’ challenges and supporting them to overcome them and—in doing so—promotes effective learning. Practicing mindful teaching requires deliberate focus, reflection, and inquiry (Burks and Kobus 2012; Epstein 2017). It helps educators become more caring in their teaching, establish deeper connections with their learners, and set an example to learners to develop mindfulness.