Vol.6, No.4

March/April 2001

Members Cheer Project Quantum Leap

Academy Matches $12,200 in Contributions = $24,400

Academy President Thomas V. DiBello, CO, FAAOP, finished his 20-minute slide presentation about the goals of Project Quantum Leap and walked to a flip chart just off stage. He told the 200-plus members at the Annual Business Meeting in Dallas that he was “putting his money where his mouth is” and making the first pledge of $1000.

After the session ended dozens of other members reached for their checkbooks and credit cards to contribute a total of $12,200 to Project Quantum Leap. The Academy will match those donations dollar-for-dollar making the total $24,400 to kick off the accelerated program.

The Academy has just begun a large initiative. Project Quantum Leap is, without a doubt, the most important undertaking in its 30-year history. “It is imperative it succeeds because so much is at stake,” DiBello explained to the crowd. Over the next several years, the Academy will take action to: set standards of practice, encourage and fund needed applied research, and improve the quality and numbers of students in O&P schools. It will seek funding to support the nine O&P schools, undertake a series of consensus conferences which will lead to the development of clinical standards of practice, and petition various government agencies for support of applied research in O&P that has been lacking for so long.

The project has begun in earnest. The first consensus conference is scheduled for this Fall on the topic of Idiopathic Scoliosis. It will produce a document detailing proven methods of treatment that will be then reviewed. President DiBello has already visited with seven different Congressmen and received a warm response to the three initiatives. Many more visits are being planned. A timeline of activities is well underway in anticipation of additional response from the field. Practitioners are being asked to make a tax-deductible contribution to accelerate the pace of the multi-year project. Their contributions to the O&P Education and Development Fund (PQL FUND) may be mailed to AAOP, PO Box 18046, Merrifield, VA 22118-0046

More From Dallas:

The 35,000 square foot exhibit hall at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel was filled with 300 tabletop and perimeter exhibits, yet attendees said It still kept the intimate feeling for which the Academy meeting is known.

CAPTION: HOWDY PARTNER! The Texas Chapter of the Academy made many new friends as it welcomed attendees to the meeting - Texas style, with custom-made bandannas.

NEW BOOK: Control of the Foot/Ankle Complex: Orthotic Recommendations”

John Glancy’s new book on “Orthotic Recommendations” joins the Academy’s inventory this month. The 206-page soft cover book published by Glancy covers the biomechanical principles pertaining to equilibrium, joint alignment, and weight distribution, which he believes apply universally to all normal conditions. His 40-years experience with Sports Medicine Clinics and awareness of its application to general orthotic practice was the impetus for writing the book. The book will sell for $40 and is available online (www.oandp.org) or from the Academy’s bookstore by phone (301) 687-3278.