The 69th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons will take place in Dallas, February 13-17, 2002. The scientific program features 320 scientific podium presentations, 31 symposia and over 175 Instructional Courses.

In addition, the meeting will feature a new Technology Pavilion, including presentations in PowerPoint, Personal Digital Assistants, and Photoshop. The Pavilion will give attendees the opportunity to learn about handheld and wireless computing, utilizing medical search engines, and “Ask the Experts” about hardware, software and the internet. The Multimedia Education Center, where attendees can pursue individual study with videos and CD-ROM programs, will feature Internet and on-line campus demonstrations. The on-line campus housed on the Academy's website features a medical library, tutorials, and on-line courses. See the on-line courses at www.aaos.org .

An automated Information/Messaging System will be available to give attendees access to a variety of services at the meeting. Attendees can use the Information/Messaging kiosks to leave messages for colleagues who are attending the meeting or to retrieve messages left by them. From the kiosks attendees can also print Certificates of Attendance for the Annual Meeting and participating Specialty Societies, determine if a colleague is attending the meeting and where he or she is staying, peruse the Annual Meeting Final Program online, and verify or change personal address information. Information/Messaging kiosks are conveniently located throughout the Dallas Convention Center.

Two exceptional guest speakers are featured in this year. On Thursday morning at 11:00 AM, Henry Kissinger, PhD, former Secretary of State under President Nixon, will address the members on Principles of Diplomacy. A second guest speaker, Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and author, will give a presentation on President Abraham Lincoln on Friday morning at 8:45 AM.

Special events include the AAOS President's Benefit for OREF featuring Mary Chapin Carpenter. On the evening of the 14th, the Instructional Course Lectures Dinner will feature Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind mountain climber to reach the summit of Mt. Everest.

As an organization accredited for continuing medical education, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons designates this activity as meeting the criteria for up to 28 credit hours in Category 1 of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical Association.