The Association of Children’s Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics (ACPOC), a multidisciplinary association for children with complex musculoskeletal needs, held its annual meeting in Denver, April 24-27. ACPOC members from Canada, the United States, Sweden, and the United Kingdom attended. Attendance at this year’s conference also marked the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting began with two guest speakers: the Hector W. Kay Memorial speaker Vincent Mosca, MD, a professor at the University of Washington Medical School, an academic full-time pediatric orthopedic surgeon, and researcher/expert in management of foot deformities; and presidential guest lecturer Wilsaan Joiner, PhD, University of California.
Mosca spoke on the “Biomechanics and principles of assessment and management of pediatric foot and ankle deformities and malformations.” Joiner, who studies neurology, presented on “Moving a missing hand: Children born with a congenital limb deficiency have extensive control over their remaining muscles.”
Two guest speakers from UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital Colorado, Stephanie Tow, MD, and Kline White, MD, also presented during the conference. Tow spoke on adaptive sports, physical activity, and recreational sports, regarding the next steps for athletes and adolescents with physical disabilities and how changes can be made in local communities to provide them with more accessible resources. White’s topic included how to manage skeletal dysplasia as well as sharing challenging cases he has treated in his practice.
In addition, technical workshops, an exhibit hall, and an international group of presenters who spoke on topics covering challenging cases, the psychological aspects of patients and caregivers, scoliosis, clubfoot, limb difference, and gait were part of the annual conference. Also featured in the exhibit hall were adapted sports demonstrations coordinated by Children’s Hospital of Colorado’s recreational therapists.
ACPOC also named two new board members: Deanna Jewell, DO, University of Wisconsin Hospital-Madison, and Gabrielle Nguyen, MD, Texas Children’s Hospital. Rebecca Spragg, CPO, Eastern Michigan University, was elected vice president after serving as a member at large. Phoebe Scott-Wyard, DO, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, is the new president. ACPOC thanked outgoing board members Kelly Jean, BS, and
Colleen Coulter, PT, DPT, PhD, who is transitioning to ACPOC’s immediate past president, and recognized Anna Vergun, MD, who served on theboard most recently as the immediate past president.
The next ACPOC annual conference will be held in Dallas, April 9-12, 2025.
To read the session abstracts, visit the ACPOC website.
