History



Historia
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In 2008, the AO Foundation Board of Directors created AOTrauma. This body recognized the need for each clinical division to have its own identity, as well as the unique dynamics of the trauma market.
 
In many ways, AOTrauma has always been the main pillar of AO Foundation and vice versa. It is difficult to separate one from the other.

Since its creation as an independent clinical division, AOTrauma has grown to become a global community made up of the best surgeons, researchers and Trauma and Orthopedic theatre staff. Today, it continues to focus on its areas of strength: Education, Research and Community Development.
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AO Trauma has conserved its patrimony and history as it has advanced to establish its own identity within the AO Foundation. The organization has matured via structural changes that allow for the best solutions to emerging challenges in the area of Traumatology and Orthopedics worldwide.
 
The International Board of AOTrauma, in its part, provides planning and strategic support to the areas of AOTrauma. Each area has its own budget, authority, and responsibility to carry out local activities within the framework of AOTrauma International.

Although AOTrauma was established as an independent clinical division in 2008, it had already operated independently in Latin America for many years. As such, the history of AO Foundation in our region began at the start of the 1970s, mwith the first AO courses that were carried out in Mexico and Brazil.
 
 

In June of 1998, AO Foundation established AO Latin America (AOLAT) as an official regional partner during its AO Trustees Meeting in Davos. Amongst the founders of AOLAT were José Soares Hungría Neto, Gottfried Köberle, Cleber Paccola, Jaime Quintero, Fiesky Nuñez, Carlos Sancineto, Marcelo Somarriva,, Alberto Fernández, Sergio Fernández y Fernando Garcia. At first, the new branch of AOLAT had a series of challenges to overcome. This included finding an appropriate way to provide education in standards of fracture care in developing countries with a limited health system infrastructure. Despite these challenges, AOLAT grew considerably in the following years and, today, is an important branch of the AO Foundation which carries out numerous educational activities in 17 countries.
 
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Advancing: The evolution of Latin America as part of the AO Foundation
Today, AOTrauma is the largest division of the AO Foundation. Since its creation in 2008, it has grown to become a global trauma community with the best surgeons, researchers and theatre staff.
Each of the five AO Regions of AOTrauma is represented on its International Board. In 2009, Sergio Fernández became the first president of AOTrauma Latin America and the first representative to have a position on the International Board of AOTrauma.
In recent years AOTrauma Latin America has reached an average of 1,300 members and more than 500 faculties in 17 countries. It also has a regional webpage, ww.aotla.org, on which hundreds of videos about the beginnings of AO are posted. These videos are in Spanish and/or Portuguese, the main languages of the region.

 
 
 

Additionally, as part of its constant search for innovation, AOTrauma Latin America offers 3D videos on surgical approaches as “online” education via its webinars. In the same way, it invests in its group of tutors, offering them opportunities for ongoing medical education at its “AOTrauma Latin America Weekend” event. This event is now in its 5th year and is a space where groups of tutors come together to attend specialist training programs on how to lead an AO course and how to work with soft tissues, among others.
 
 
 


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