The field of Orthopaedic foot and ankle surgery has flourished in the United States.  Particularly over the past 40 years, the academic community in foot and ankle has increased dramatically.  During this time period, surgical techniques, implants, hardware, and decision making has been refined.   Unfortunately, the growth of orthopaedic foot and ankle has been much slower in other parts of the world.  

In many countries globally, the surgical techniques for foot and ankle surgery are arcane.  Much of the foot and ankle surgery is performed by the general orthopaedic surgeon.  Although these individuals are performing cutting-edge arthroscopic surgeries and adult reconstructive surgeries, most of the scope of foot and ankle surgeries has been limited to foot and ankle trauma and external fixation work.  The reconstruction and tendon pathologies have been largely ignored.  

The Parekh Family Foundation, under the Foundation for Medical Education and Research (FMER) is a US-based non-profit organization.  One of the missions of this organization is to increase the awareness and education of foot and ankle pathologies, decision analysis, and surgical techniques globally.  Typically, this is done through live foot and ankle camps, surgeries, and a conference.  However, given the COVID pandemic, this will not be possible for the foreseeable future.  The pandemic has severely limited our ability to engage in any in-person training or charitable surgeries. However, it has presented an opportunity to provide innovative educational opportunities using technology.

Last year, the Foundation did pivot and offered a 24-hour Virtual Foot and Ankle Global Town Hall meeting.  This meeting was a global success with over 2500 attendees.  This year, the virtual meeting will focus on "SPORTS" and will start at 8 pm NYC on March 18, 2022.  The first session will take place from 8:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.  There will be 24 sessions, for the 24 time zones of the world, with the meeting ending at  8:00 p.m. NYC on March 19, 2022.