Recording - 08-18-2023 06:38:10

00:00 Morning.

00:00 How are you? Not good.

00:02 You?

00:06 Hello. This is Mark Swiontkowski coming to you from Albuquerque, where we're attending the annual meeting of the 20th Century Orthopedic Association. And it's my pleasure to interview the grand poobah for the 20th century for the past four years.

00:23 One year to go.

00:24 One year to go with Dr. Steve Gitelis from Rush, a renowned musculoskeletal oncologist. And we're just going to chat a little bit about this organization. Who is it that brought you into the organization?

00:39 My sponsors were Ronald dewald, Paul Meyer and Frank Sim.

00:45 Right. And that was how many years ago when you came?

00:48 I entered the Society in 1998.

00:51 98. Okay. Excellent. Well, many of the people listening to this will probably know little, if anything, about this organization. So can you do like, a thumbnail sketch of the origins of this group? Sure.

01:06 So the origins date back to the end of World War II, when a group of servicemen came home with common interests, and they sought to create this organization. Their interests were academic leadership, and they put this organization together, and it's been in existence ever since.

01:30 Yeah. And it's set up so that it is entirely invitational, and you have to be nominated by another member of the group. And there's a real balance, isn't there, in terms of who they're interested in, in terms of subspecialty and private versus academic, et cetera?

01:51 Yes. We emphasize all kinds of balance. Geographic balance. We try to get members from all over the country and Canada. Age balance, gender balance, specialty balance. So we try to have a broad range of members because it makes the meetings that much more interesting.

02:12 What do you find is the best part? If I could push you a little bit about these meetings.

02:20 I was surprised when I was privileged to get into this organization. The first meeting I went to, I looked at the name tags, and it was an impressive, impressive group. And I said, how the heck did I get into this organization? And these were people who are academy presidents, department chairs, board members. You can go on and on in leadership positions. I further learned, however, what this organization emphasizes is family. And I started bringing my children to this meeting, which they encourage early on. And they met other children, for instance, Jimmy Andrews kids, and my kids, the Mencios. And it goes on and on. And they became very close. So this organization, despite the notoriety of its members, it's just very personable. It's a family. I guess that's one word I can describe it. It's a family.

03:19 I've always found that it has enabled me to kind of stay on the cutting edge of other sub specialties outside of my own. Because we have people presenting at the meeting that are incredibly experienced and are literally, literally on the very forefront of new concepts.

03:38 That's all. Truly. As an orthopedic oncologist, the majority of the meetings I go to are focused in that area. And when I come out to this meeting and there's speakers covering all topics, I keep learning, but it goes beyond the academic topics. These are leaders that today, for instance, we're having presentations by the, by the board, the rs, the raf, and so on and so forth. I keep learning what's going on in the academy and that's why I love this meeting.

04:08 Yeah, it's a special, special time and we are indeed fortunate. But if I could, I would like to ask you to just reflect on some members that we've lost very recently. Blair and Dodie Filler. And they were a wonderful, wonderful couple. What could you tell somebody listening to this about Blair and Dodie, if they may not have ever had a chance to run across that couple?

04:40 They were the backbone of this organization for so, so many years. Blair served as its chair. In fact, when I entered, he was the chairman of the 20th century. Blair brought in some unique things. The hike. The hike is still a featured event. And he and Dodie would take us on a hike. They were nature lovers. They were very active people, pilots, even into their later years. But Blair was just a nice gentleman. And Dodi also engaged the significant others in their activities in this organization. So the two of them are going to be sorely missed.

05:26 Yeah. One of the things that he who would do if prompted by those of us who had heard about it was this levitation thing. And it was often in the hospitality suite, long after the dinner, and he would gather several members and maybe. Can you give a sense of what it was like to watch that or. I'm sure you participated.

05:51 I definitely was levitated. I still, to this day, it's like a magician doing tricks. You try to figure out how does that happen. But they surround you. You're in a chair with a group of people and they defy gravity and you're elevated. And still to this day, I don't know how that works. I'm trying in my current role to find a replacement for Blair. The one I have in mind is Court Lewis. He knows how to levitate and hopefully he'll keep up that tradition.

06:24 Yeah, special people. A real energy that just never seemed to sit down and were constantly in motion and looking for ways to contribute to their community. I mean, Blair ran a fracture clinic up into his late 80s and really practiced until very few weeks before the end of his life. There be be very sorely missed.

06:52 So I was going to say, if you don't mind, I'm reflecting as chair. One thing I learned is that the patriotism of our members. For instance, I send out notices or emails about Veterans Day and Memorial Day, and then I receive in return 20 or 30 heartwarming stories about military service. But it goes way beyond military service. This whole organization is devoted to leadership and service and these members exceed in.

07:24 Those areas, which kind of goes back to the roots of the organization of people who had served in the disaster that was World War II. And one of the things that is remembered quite frequently is the alcohol consumption that was. That was a part of the origin of this meeting. And one can't help but reflect that that was a part of not only social culture in those days, but also a way to deal with the horrible, horrible memories and experiences these men had.

07:58 Absolutely. We have another tradition. It goes on. Today we have a beer and ice cream break after the academic session and that dates back to when they returned from this horrible conflict you mentioned. And they were asked, what do you miss most? And they said, beer and ice cream. So they started this beer and ice cream break, which we have to arrange in every venue we go to. And they said, what do you want beer and ice cream for?

08:27 What?

08:28 And this usually happens around 10 o'clock in the morning. But we've kept that tradition going and that's the origin of it.

08:34 Yeah, yeah. We owe a lot to those founders because it has created a very special group with a group of very special people from incredibly diverse backgrounds and all different subspecialties and leadership experiences. Can you also give some reflections on some of the other people who have held this position? How about. What are your thoughts about Neil Green?

09:03 Neil was an incredible chairman. He passed way too early. He and Leslie were very active members. I remember vividly. We have a band and a dance one every meeting. And they are phenomenal dancers. And they would get us out on the dance floor and show us what they're able to do. I personally can't dance, but those two. He was a great chair. I served. I shouldn't say served, but I. I've had multiple chairs since I joined in 98. Blair Filler, I had Frank Kelly, Gunther, Steve. Steve Gunther, John Purvis. And these are incredible men. And now, having done the job for four years, one more year to go it's a lot of work. Not that this group is difficult. No matter what you offer them at these meetings they're grateful and the meetings all turn out just fine and you see them amongst themselves and they're friendly and laughing and it's like a reunion and it's a reunion. It's a family reunion and that's what I like about this organization.

10:19 Yeah really been blessed with people that are willing to step up and do the rather constant work because you frequently get emails probably every week about something to do with the meeting or some concern or somebody who's ill or something that's happened in this family and it's been fun to talk with you Steve and on behalf of all the members of this organization and anybody listening to this in the future, we thank you for doing the extra work to make this organization continue to be on solid footing. So thanks and enjoy the rest of the meeting.

10:59 Thank you Mark and it's a pleasure and an honor.