From the President

Esteemed Colleagues, Greetings for Summer:2010 AOASM President Phillip C. Zinni III, DO, FAOASM, ATC

I trust your Summer is going well.  Just flying back to Las Vegas, returning from Chicago, jumping out of the sauna (95° and 95% humidity) into the frying pan (114° - overnight low was a record high of 91°!).  Dr. Patrick Leary and I represented you and AOASM at the 90th Annual AOA House of Delegates (HOD) Meeting in Chicago, my first HOD meeting and a great venue to advocate for AOASM.

Below is a brief summary, check your email for a complete report.

Drs. Larry Wickless (Immediate Past President) and Karen Nichols (President), and John Crosby (Exec. Dir.) had collectively spoke of the “G.R.E.A.T. Family of DOs”, to reflect the themes of Governance, Research, Education, Advocacy, Teamwork and Family (Membership).  More importantly,   Dr. Nichols, in her acceptance speech, emphasized TEAMwork and the ability of all to come to resolution and success when faced with a challenge, such as the crisis that became of the crew and mission control as she described the near fatal flight of Apollo 13.

Why is this important to you and AOASM?  Because as I assumed the Presidency my 3 goals for my term are: #1) Fiscal Solvency (“Business Partnership Program” & “Website Development”); #2) Organization (Our Academy, our “Family” life blood);  and #3) Education and Certification (Certification process streamlining & MSK COM curriculum guide) which all aligned within the AOA “G.R.E.A.T. Family of Dos.”

The process of the meeting was a peek into the development of policy (AOA) and law (Health Care Reform) aka “Sausage Making” in the local political parlance of Chicago.  So while the AOA was not completely satisfied with the Health Care Reform Bill, they advocated for our osteopathic profession when needed (patient centered medical home, wellness coverage/reimbursement) and disagreed when DOs or patients weren’t benefitted (tort reform).

The resolution process was a little rancorous at times but seemed to flow effectively (I was told by Dr. Leary this was one of the shortest HOD meetings he’d attended as there was little debate about the resolutions).  We kept a watchful eye for any resolutions (this link:  http://www.do-online.org/index.cfm?PageID=cal_hod10houseres  will take you to the resolution agenda and description) that would have an adverse affect upon you and AOASM, and when appropriate was vocally able to alter resolutions to keep AOASM members included such as H 439 Traumatic Brain Injury so as to recognize that our members are equally capable in assisting for the care.

Remember to check your email for the complete report.  Finally, in the interest of full disclosure and transparency, NO AOASM funds were used to send or reimburse Dr. Leary’s nor my travel – we serve at the pleasure of the AOASM members.

I hope you have a Great Summer; check your email for the complete report and I’ll keep you posted on progress along all these fronts.

Remember Life is a Paradigm….Shift Happens.

God Bless you and the Academy,

Phillip Zinni III, DO, FAOASM, MS, ATC
President
AOASM

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CAQ and Recertification Documents

Sports Medicine: A Definition

Sports medicine is a branch of the healing arts profession which utilizes a holistic, comprehensive approach to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of sport and exercise-related injuries, disorders, dysfunctions and disease processes.

Sports Docs in ActionThe Osteopathic Sports Medicine Physician's practice shall include:

  1. Providing comprehensive medical management of the athlete across a broad scope of specializations.
  2. Recognizing the importance of utilizing special manual medicine skills in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of neuromusculo-skeletal injuries, disorders, dysfunctions and diseases.
  3. Understanding the principles of performance enhancers, coaching techniques, training methods and sport specific rules and regulations.
  4. Understanding the science of injury prevention and recognition, advanced rehabilitation techniques and epidemiology.
  5. Applying and promoting wellness concepts to the general public.
  6. Directing the application of sports science in improving the health care of athletes, the general public and those with special needs.

Athlete: A Definition

The term athlete refers to an individual who is engaged in sport, exercise or physical activity at the recreational, industrial, competitive, professional or elite level.