Allen F. Anderson, M.D. Installed at AOSSM President

He has plans—and long term plans—for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM). Allen F. Anderson, M.D. of the Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance was recently installed as the 44th president of this fine institution. Dr. Anderson, who is also a chairman of AOSSM’s Research Scientific Advisory Committee, was awarded with the organization’s O’Donoghue Sports Injury Research Award for Most Outstanding Clinical Research in Sports Medicine in 2014.

As indicated in the July 8, 2015 news release, Dr. Anderson graduated from the University of Tennessee, College of Medicine in 1976 and completed an orthopedic residency at Vanderbilt University. “Dr. Anderson has had more than 91 scientific articles published in sports medicine books and various sports medicine journals. He has also had 21 scientific exhibits at national and international orthopaedic meetings and made numerous national/international presentations and 53 instructional course lectures.”

“Dr. Anderson was asked to be a visiting professor at the Universities of Vermont and Cincinnati. He was appointed Associate Editor of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, and The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine. He is a member of the AOSSM Medical Publishing Board of Trustees and Board of Directors and has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Canby Robinson Society at Vanderbilt University and the Board of Directors of the International Cartilage Repair Society. Dr. Anderson is chairman of the International Knee Documentation Committee, which sets standards for orthopaedic surgeons around the world to use to evaluate the results of treatment.”

Dr. Anderson told OTW, “One of the AOSSM’s strengths is that the leadership has established a strategic plan for education, research, communication, publishing and fellowship. As president, one of my primary responsibilities is to ensure that AOSSM continues fulfilling those priorities. In publishing, we have launched a new journal—the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine (OJSM)—which as an open access journal provides a new publishing paradigm for the profession around the world. My priority is to ensure that OJSM provides a rigorous accessible scientific publication for researchers and readers worldwide while maintaining the same high standards as AJSM and Sports Health. In education, we will look to maintaining our stable of live courses and enduring education materials while expanding our involvement with skills education. And in research, AOSSM’s priority is to facilitate not just the funding of research projects but the collaboration of the research community and funding sources, such as the NIH [National Institutes of Health], to maximize the impact of our research endeavors. Finally, as president, my priority will be to not only advance the established AOSSM priorities but to also look to the next steps so our organization and profession continues to thrive. We have both unique opportunities and challenges ahead, and my responsibility will be to work with the leadership so we can identify and capitalize on those factors.”