The below is a report from Poorani Sekar, MD, clinical associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases. Sekar joined the board of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) and was elected president of the society, with her term set to begin in 2027.
I joined the University of Iowa Infectious Diseases division in 2017. I was hired to re-start the Ortho Infectious Disease service. To prepare for this I met with the Ortho ID team at Mayo Clinic and learned from them.
I then re-opened the Ortho ID service here. I asked a lot of questions of my orthopedic surgical colleagues and learned about their surgical approaches, culture collection techniques and approaches to treating infections. We worked together to optimize culture collection techniques, and develop protocols on prevention and treatment of various infections including fracture related infections (FRI), prosthetic joint infections (PJI), spinal infections, etc.
I first discovered the Musculoskeletal Infection Society (MSIS) when I was looking through published guidelines on diagnosis of PJI. I joined MSIS as a member in 2017. It is a unique national society consisting of both orthopedic surgeons and ID physicians focused on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of PJI. I attended the meetings and got to know a lot of the members. Over time I served on the annual meeting committee reviewing abstracts and as moderator on panel discussions and presented at the meetings.
While attending the meetings I saw colleagues discussing complex cases and discussing the need for a listserve to discuss these cases. So, I decided to take it upon myself to set up a monthly online zoom meeting to discuss complex ortho ID cases and also created an email thread to discuss de-identified cases and maintained this myself. Eventually in 2024 my efforts were rewarded by an endorsement of my monthly case discussion meeting by the MSIS.
During this time, I applied to be a part of the MSIS Board and got selected to serve on the board in 2024. Typically, they alternate between orthopedic surgeons and infectious disease doctors as president of the society. I am honored to serve as a member of the board and will eventually be president in 2027.
The society’s next meeting, the 35th Annual Open Scientific Meeting, will be in Jersey City on August 1 & 2, 2025. Learn more: https://www.msis-na.org/
Being part of the MSIS and the board, I have been able to interact with members of various other local, national and international societies. I was invited to be part of the International Consensus Meeting on Infection (ICMI) in May 2025 in Istanbul. ICMI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to engage experts from around the world to create compendiums of up-to-date recommendations related to various fields in orthopedics that will improve patient care. Nearly 900 delegates from more than 80 countries in the fields of orthopedic surgery, Infectious disease, microbiology were invited to be part of this meeting.
Each of the delegates was asked to tackle a few questions on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of orthopedic infections. Over a 3-day period all the delegates presented their systematic reviews of the literature, and we voted on the level of consensus regarding these questions.
I learned a lot from my various colleagues from across the world and enjoyed visiting a few sites in Istanbul in the short time I had to explore the city.
THE QUESTIONS I WORKED ON:
Istanbul is a city with a rich history and the only city that spans two continents, Europe and Asia. We got to visit a few sites in our short time there including the historic Hagia Sophia, which was completed in 535 AD, served as a Orthodox church, then as a Catholic church, then as a mosque, then a secular museum building, until about 2018 when it reverted to a mosque.
We also visited the New Mosque, the Blue Mosque (also known as the Sultanahmet Mosque). The Sultanahmet Mosque was built in the 1600s and is adorned with blue tiles. It is across from the Hagia Sophia and both are located in the old Hippodrome area. We also visited the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar filled with spices, Turkish delights, teas, handicrafts, rugs, gold, jewelry, and souvenirs. We also went on a boat tour across the Bosporus Strait and caught a glimpse of the Asian side of Istanbul. Overall this was a great experience where I got to learn a lot, make connections with other physicians and get a glimpse of another country.
I was just looking for information on PJI. I never thought that search would take me to the other side of the planet touring mosques in an ancient city. And yet this is what can happen when you get involved with like-minded colleagues and when you look for chances to learn more and to teach more. I would encourage each of you to find organizations that align with your interests. Join one, go to meetings, find out what you can do as a group beyond what you can do as an individual. Say yes to opportunity as much as you can.