Over 140 physicians, nurses, physician assistants, physical and occupational therapists, athletic trainers and coaches attended the 11TH ANNUAL ONSF MEDICAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE held at Noble Auditorium, Greenwich Hospital on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2ND. This year’s fully accredited one-day course, “CURRENT CONCEPTS IN ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY, SPORTS MEDICINE AND NEUROSURGERY,” reviewed the indications and outcomes in lower/upper extremity surgery and spine surgery. Also reviewed were; ACL repair, partial knee replacement, cervical disc replacement and new options in the treatment of Dupuytren’s disease of the hand. In addition, attention focused on the growing opioid epidemic and strategies to prevent opioid addiction in patient populations.

ONSF proudly welcomed Travis Rieder, PhD, a bioethicist, philosopher, and leading voice on the ethical and policy implications of America’s opioid crisis. A research scholar and director of the Master of Bioethics degree program at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, he has published on a wide variety of topics in various academic journals. His memoir, In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids, recounts his terrifying experience with opioid dependence that began with a motorcycle accident. Rieder endured half a dozen surgeries during which opioids were prescribed to him. His most profound suffering came several months later when he went into acute opioid withdrawal. Medical professionals in attendance at the Conference followed Dr. Rieder’s story closely and participated wholeheartedly in a Q & A and book signing after his talk