AFCP (Association Française de Chirurgie du Pied) : what for?

Foot and ankle pathology is rich and complex. Surgical treatment of these illnesses have been markedly improved thanks to technological progress. Treatments proposed to patients are more and more efficient and specific. Surgeons interested in this field gathered together in 1993 to found the GEP (Groupe d’Etude du Pied) or Foot Study Group, which transformed into the Association Française de Chirurgie du Pied (AFCP) (French Association of Foot Surgery) in 1997. This society currently includes more than 200 french members, and numerous foreign members and visiting professionals (from Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Romania, the Czeq Republic, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon, Argentina and Russia). AFCP has rapidly become one of the most important scientific societies of the SOFCOT (Société Française de Chirurgie Orthopédique et Traumatologique), the French Society of Orthopedic and Traumatologic Surgery, due to the fact that foot pathology is currently acknowledged with increasing interest among locomotor apparatus pathologies. This affiliation allows all orthopedic surgeons to acquire and renew their knowledge concerning foot and ankle illnesses and their treatments. AFCP has thus several goals: - Develop and improve knowledge in all fields specifically dealing with foot. – Entertain and stimulate fundamental and clinical research . – Ensure teaching through specific congresses (Springs Seminars and Specialities Seminar in November), and through the organization of the only European DIU (Interuniversity Diploma) of Foot and Ankle Pathologies, gathering together 12 french universities. This DIU has later been “exported” to numerous French speaking countries like Morocco and Lebanon, and “Francophile” countries like Romania and the Czeq Republic. – Facilitating exchanges between young and experienced surgeons by allowing specific fellowships and the efficient diffusion of scientific work and publications. – Share, confront and diffuse french ideas among foreign countries by participating to international congresses (IFAS, International Federation of Foot and Ankle Societies), and by active membership and collaboration with the EFAS (European Foot and Ankle Society). Nevertheless, AFCP aims through these activities to serve the patients’ interests, and offers them reliable and precise information on its website. The AFCP is open to all motivated orthopedic surgeons who are interested in entertaining the organisation as a vivid and enthusiastic association. To know how to become an AFCP member, click here.

Doctor Michael MAESTRO

AFCP President