• The Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research
• Introduction of reverse shoulder arthroplasty to Japan

Establishment of the Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research

Hiroaki Tsutsui (President of the 31st Annual Meeting of Japan Shoulder Society)
Mitsukuni Yamaguchi (President of 1st Annual Meeting of Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research)

The Japan Shoulder Research Society was established in 1974, and is ahead of other societies worldwide. To move away from treatments based only on empirical evidence, society has provided a forum for heated discussions based on scientific evidence and on our own theories, without being bound by senior-junior relationships.
The theme of the 31st annual meeting of the Japan Shoulder Society was "Draw on past wisdom for inspiration,” because the aim was for participants from overseas to learn about their history of shoulder joints and what prospects each country has for the future, and was for domestic participants to increase the number of members interested in shoulders and to provide a place for friendly competition.
We had long believed that medical staff who required close clinical collaboration with medical doctors needed a forum where they could freely discuss their ideas about upper limb function from their own perspectives. Furthermore, we established the “Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research” believing that sharing ideas and knowledge between doctors and medical staff would lead to the development of the Japan Shoulder Society. Although now commonplace, this meeting was the first of its kind to provide an opportunity to connect different professions, share clinical tips, and build teams that deal with the shoulder, not only as an academic discipline.
The attempt to allow various medical staff other than doctors to attend the academic meetings of the Japan Shoulder Society to educate them on the academic background as well, and at the same time encourage doctors to actively participate in the meetings of the Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research, which were not medical societies, was controversial at its inception and fraught with challenges and problems.
However, although we were from different professions, we shared the same philosophy, and the active exchange of opinions across job boundaries created horizontal connections between professions. Although the presentation could not be called academic, we do not deny that it is useful in clinical practice. We believe that the meeting was a meaningful forum for exchanging and sharing information, which was the original purpose of the meeting.

With this background and thoughts in mind, the “Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research” was held for the first time and has continued to be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Japan Shoulder Society.

This was the 20th Meeting of the Japanese Society for Shoulder Function Research. The number of participants has increased, and the original purpose of the meeting has changed considerably.

The shoulder joint changes clinically owing to various physical and psychological factors. It is essential to exchange information and share knowledge across the wide variety of professions involved in each case. It is important to take advantage of the expertise of each profession and form horizontal connections with doctors at the core, that is, to work as a team to support each profession.

Although the position has changed to the “Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research,” we hope that it will continue to be a meeting where we can have wonderful discussions about valuing each case individually, and that it will develop in a slightly different way than the Japan Shoulder Society.

The Road to the Establishment of the Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research

Junichiro Hamada
Former chairman of the Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research (JSSFR)
Committee

Takayuki Muraki
Representative caretakers’ group of the JSSFR

1. Status of the Shoulder Function Research Meeting (SFRM) in 2015

I was elected as a councilor of the Japan Shoulder Society (hereinafter JSS) in 2015, and in November of that year, I received an offer from former president Kazuya Tamai to chair the “Working Group of the Shoulder Function Research Meeting (hereinafter SFRM). The 12th SFRM held in Sendai in 2015 had 630 participants, and the president of the SFRM and the participants pointed out the following problems.

• Because there is no member list, abstracts cannot be mailed in advance and must be delivered manually on the day of an event.
• Since there is no secretariat, no information is provided, and even if you want to contact them, this is impossible.
• Presentations of the SFRM are not registered in the Igaku Chuo Journal and are not recorded as achievements.
• How will the occupations of participants in the study group be selected?
• How should the job types of presenters be set at the SFRM.
• The participation fee for the Japan Physical Therapy Academic Conference (3 days) is 11,000 yen, but the participation fee for the SFRM is 12,000 yen, which is expensive for physical and occupational therapists.

The SFRM was held at the same time as the annual meeting of the JSS, and to preserve its academic achievements, it was time to make it a membership-based public organization. The first members of the Working Group were Director: Teruhiko Nakagawa, Chairman: Junichiro Hamada, Vice-chairman: Takayuki Muraki, Committee members: Yoshihiro Kai, Takashi Takamura, Takashi Tachibana, Mitsukuni Yamaguchi, Kazuhiko Kikukawa, Naofumi Kobayashi, Minoru Tanaka, Toru Morihara, and Observer: Kazuya Tamai (title omitted).

2. In 2016, an agreement was reached to make the SFRM a public organization.

In April 2016, we received opinions from each member of the Working Group regarding the issues and future directions of the SFRM. We also conducted a questionnaire survey with 203 participants of the 13th SFRM held in Hiroshima City. From the questionnaire survey, it was found that there was an overwhelmingly large number of physical therapists participating, low awareness of other professions in the SFRM, the participation fee was too high, the membership system had great benefits, and the journal allowed the majority to submit papers. The main opinion was that public organizations should be established. After summarizing the opinions of each committee member and participant, the basic policy was decided to make the SFRM a public membership organization, to register it in the academic society/study group database, and to publish a journal similar to the magazine “Shoulder Joint” in JSS. On October 21st during the 13th SFRM, Chairperson Hamada and Vice Chairperson Muraki held an explanatory meeting for the participants to convey the above policy.

3. Progress in 2017

This was the year when the Working Group of the SFRM discussed the specific type of organization that the SFRM had. As a result, the president of the SFRM will be nominated by the president of the annual JSS meeting, and we will maintain a system in which the SFRM will be held simultaneously with the annual JSS meeting. An SFRM secretariat will be established to support the holding of the SFRM, track memberships, and provide information. I submitted a report to the JSS's board of directors and the general meeting of councils regarding the nature of SFRM and received permission to organize it.

4. Progress in 2018

It was an important year for us to decide on the specific matters necessary for organizational management to inaugurate the SFRM organization in November 2018. To operate the SFRM, there are four steps to be taken: (1) the 2018 business plan and budget proposal, (2) approval of the SFRM rules, (3) establishment of a board of directors, and (4) membership recruitment and fees. These plans were created and approved at the general meeting of employees held in Osaka City on October 18th, and we planned to launch the SFRM secretariat and start recruiting members; unexpectedly, the launch was not approved and will be held in 2019. This study was conducted in the current year. There were two reasons for this: (1) the organizational relationship between the JSS and SFRM was not clear and (2) different budget systems existed within the JSS. At this time, I created four different plans for the organizational chart of the SFRM and JSS, but I regretted that I should have asked the board of directors to decide on the organizational chart first.

5. Progress in 2019

In 2019, we submitted a proposal to the board of directors to determine the organizational charts of the SFRM and JSS. As a result, the name of the “Shoulder Function Research Meeting” was changed to the “Japanese Society of Shoulder Function Research (JSSFR)” at the October general meeting of councils. The name of the Working Group of the SFRM was also changed to the JSSFR Committee. The following organizational chart was created based on the judgment that the JSSFR would be organized under the JSS, and its operations were carried out under a steering committee. Therefore, there was no longer a need for a board of directors for the JSSFR, and a caretaker group was established to support it.

An analysis of the JSSFR participants revealed a three-tiered structure: 200 participants were associate members of the JSS, 200 were presenters who were not associate members, and 600 were non-associate members who attended the JSSFR. Therefore, the membership system of the JSS was established as follows: in other words, there are no members of the JSSFR; all are members of the JSS, which is composed of Associate Members 1 and 2.

Regular member:

Must be a doctor; membership fee, annual membership fee, and rights remain the same as before.

Associate Member No. 1:

Comedical workers, they can present at both the annual meeting of the JSS and JSSFR and can subscribe to the magazines “Shoulder Joint” and “Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery” for free. They can be submitted papers in the magazine “Shoulder Joint” (only presentation at the annual meeting of the JSS). They received information about the JSSFR (including the mailing of abstracts). Entrance fee: 5,000 yen; annual membership fee: 15,000 yen.

Associate Member No. 2:

Comedical workers, their presentation allowed only at the JSSFR, attendance available at the annual meeting of JSS, free subscription to the magazine "Shoulder Joint", but not allowed to submit papers. They can receive information on the JSSFR (including mailing of abstracts). Entrance fee: 5,000 yen, annual membership fee: 5,000 yen.

6. Progress in 2020

As members of the caretaker group who support the management of the JSSFR, the representative manager is Takayuki Muraki, the vice representative managers are Akira Takahama and Takashi Tachibana, and the managers are Yoshihiro Kai, Takashi Takamura, Shinichi Chiba, Yuichiro Miura, Koji Miyashita, Hajime Yamazaki, and Takashi Yusa (titles omitted). Based on the 2020 presentations in the JSSFR, it was decided that presenters and co-presenters must also be associated members of the JSS. The JSSFR was established on the JSS website and began recruiting Associate Members 1 and 2 in March 2020. The procedure for becoming an associate member required the recommendation of two regular members of the JSS, and previous associate members were moved to associate members 1. The organization and management of the JSSFR began officially.

7. Progress in 2021-2022

At the general meeting of delegates held on October 28, 2021, in Nagoya City, Toru Morihara was appointed committee chair, and I became an advisor. I am confident that we have been able to solidify the foundation of the JSSFR over the past five years. Unfortunately, the rules of the steering committee were not approved at the general meeting of members in 2022. In 2022, Dr. Morihara was the director in charge, and at the committee meeting held on November 27, Dr. Tadanao Funakoshi was appointed the third chairman.

8. Breakthrough in 2023

The bylaw of the JSSFR steering committee, which was a major goal for 2023, was approved at the general meeting of members on October 12, 2023. The 15th International Congress of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery (ICSES) was held in Rome in September, and the 7th International Shoulder and Elbow Therapy (ICSET) was also held. There was no host organization for ICSET, making it unclear when each event would be held. However, in 2023, the International Confederation of Scientific Societies for Shoulder and Elbow Therapy (ICSSSET) was established by the respective national societies for shoulder and elbow therapy in four countries: Japan (JSS), Europe (EUSSER), Australia (SEPA), and the United States (ASSET), forming the parent organization of ICSET. In the future, Japan must responsibly and actively disseminate information in English, and the JSSFR must support this. Simultaneously, we must enhance clinical practice and research in Japan, and promote the international success of young researchers.
Furthermore, at the 20th Annual Meeting of the JSSFR, the chairman, Dr. Noboru Matsumura, held a roundtable discussion titled “The JSSFR History and Future Prospects”. The moderator (Toru Morihara) and commentators (Hiroaki Tsutsui, Junichiro Hamada, Tadanao Funakoshi, Mitsukuni Yamaguchi, and Takayuki Muraki) exchanged their opinions from various perspectives. Once the foundation of the JSSFR has been prepared, we are determined to work hard to develop the JSSFR in alignment with the perspective of participating medical professionals.