Final Activity Report Summary - EPOS (European Paediatric Orthopedic Society - Training Course)
With the generous financial support from the European Commission under the Marie Curie programme, the European Paediatric Orthopaedics Society (EPOS) held four successful and fruitful events as an educational programme for young physicians who are keen to specialise in paediatric orthopaedics and trauma. Each event included intensive five-day courses, held over a period of two years in internationally highly respected paediatric orthopaedics centres. The courses were hosted by three Member States and one associated state: Austria (Orthopaedic Hospital Vienna - Speising), Finland (ORTON Orthopaedic Hospital - Helsinki), France (Hopital de la Timone Enfants - Marseille) and Israel (Tel Aviv University, Dana Children's Hospital - Tel Aviv). Thus, the project partners formed a geographic trapezium that unites four parts of Europe, respectively: North, South-East, South-West and East / Middle East. The EPOS Training Courses took part in Vienna in December 2007, in Helsinki in July 2008, in Marseille in July 2009 in Tel Aviv in November 2009. For more information on the courses and their schedule please visit http://www.epos.efort.org/mariecurie/index.html.
The events were highly appreciated by the participants, and perceived as very successful and unique. They formed a comprehensive coverage of the field of paediatric orthopaedics and trauma, such as upper/lower limbs deficiencies, spine deformities, cerebral palsy, tumours, bone dysplasias. Including frontal lectures, group discussions, live demonstrations of state-of-the-art treatment of musculoskeletal problems, young-scientists sessions, workshops and hands-on sessions - the courses allowed the transfer of knowledge from worldwide renowned specialists to young researchers. At the end of the four training courses, the participants are able to identify and manage paediatric orthopaedic diseases. The events were designed to fill the need for a standardized, high-quality European training and scientific research in paediatric orthopaedics, and aimed to increase the participation of women and of researchers from less-favoured regions of the EC and Associated Countries in order to enhance the exchange of knowledge and experience and to deepen the cooperation between European orthopaedic surgeons, for the benefit of disabled children.
The events were highly appreciated by the participants, and perceived as very successful and unique. They formed a comprehensive coverage of the field of paediatric orthopaedics and trauma, such as upper/lower limbs deficiencies, spine deformities, cerebral palsy, tumours, bone dysplasias. Including frontal lectures, group discussions, live demonstrations of state-of-the-art treatment of musculoskeletal problems, young-scientists sessions, workshops and hands-on sessions - the courses allowed the transfer of knowledge from worldwide renowned specialists to young researchers. At the end of the four training courses, the participants are able to identify and manage paediatric orthopaedic diseases. The events were designed to fill the need for a standardized, high-quality European training and scientific research in paediatric orthopaedics, and aimed to increase the participation of women and of researchers from less-favoured regions of the EC and Associated Countries in order to enhance the exchange of knowledge and experience and to deepen the cooperation between European orthopaedic surgeons, for the benefit of disabled children.