James D. Kang, M.D. Elected ABOS President

James D. Kang, M.D., the Thomas S. Thornhill, MD, and Karen N. Thornhill Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has been elected as the 2023-2024 President of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS).

Scott E. Porter, M.D., M.B.A., vice chair of operations in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Prisma Health-Upstate, will serve as ABOS Vice President. Kevin L. Garvin, M.D., the L. Thomas Hood, M.D. Professor and Chair, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, University of Nebraska will serve as ABOS President-Elect.

OTW asked Dr Kang about the most vital experience he brings to this new role, he said, “I am entering my seventh year on the ABOS Board of Directors and have learned a lot through my fellow Directors as well as my time serving as Chair of the ABOS Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Committee. In addition, I have been a practicing orthopaedic spine surgeon for about 30 years and an ABOS Diplomate who is Participating in MOC, so I can see first-hand how the ABOS MOC program impacts orthopaedic surgeons.”

Wayne J. Sebastianelli, M.D., the Kalenak Professor in Orthopaedics at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Medical Director, Penn State Sports Medicine, will serve as ABOS Secretary. Kyle J. Jeray, M.D., chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Prisma Health-Update, has been re-elected as ABOS Treasurer for a one-year term.

“This Board has elected an outstanding group of Officers,” said David F. Martin, M.D., ABOS Executive Director. “While they are all busy orthopaedic surgeons, they are all leaders in our field, serving on the boards of many organizations.”

As for how Dr. Kang will proceed in his new role, he explained to OTW, “While I am the ABOS President for the next year, it is a team effort of the 21 ABOS Directors, especially with our Vice President Dr. Scott Porter, a musculoskeletal oncologist in South Carolina. All of us want to continue making ABOS programs that are meaningful but not overly burdensome to orthopaedic surgeons while also making sure that we stay true to the ABOS’s mission of protecting the public.”

The ABOS Board of Directors consists of 12 Active Directors, six Senior Directors, two Directors-Elect, and one Public Member Director. ABOS Board Members serve one 10-year term while the Public Member Director serves a three-year renewable term. Nominations to the ABOS Board of Directors come from the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, and the American Medical Association. Officers are current Board members elected by other Board members. For a full list of ABOS Board Members, go to www.abos.org/about/board-of-directors/.