Philip J. Sell, MSc, FRCS
As President, it has been my delight and pleasure to see the growth of activities and visibility of EuroSpine. We are on the move, and we are firm in our resolve to be the preferred European society serving and meeting the needs of spine specialists in Europe.
The strength of EuroSpine is the diversity of cultures and health economies of our membership. We are not just a ‘surgical’ society and we are more than a scientific congress. The flagship event in our calendar is the annual general meeting, this year in Lyon. We attract high delegate numbers and the reason for that is in the high quality standards and integrity of our process. We are squeaky clean and transparent for all compliance issues in Europe. This is an attraction. We have the attention of many friends outside Europe, networking with South America, China, Japan, India and the Middle East. We share the professional challenges of providing quality healthcare in diverse economic climates.
The activities of EuroSpine support the next generation of healthcare professionals and our basic education platform is oversubscribed. EuroSpine provides the strategy, direction and faculty for education. Our partner organisation that we created in 2007, the European Spine Foundation, provide the operational support to deliver education and empower EuroSpine. There is a symbiosis and synergy with health industry partners with the outcome of full accreditation for live educational events. Having achieved basic principles in providing the basic diploma we are moving forward into the life-long learning needed by spine professionals for appraisal, revalidation and continuous professional development.
We are a not-for-profit organisation and it is essential that our funds are returned to society in visible projects. Task Force Research has reviewed many grant applications and awarded over 450,000 Euro to fund research. Patient line has 40,000 hits a month, it is now available in Greek, and is in the process of modernisation. We have many other activities.
We will stay on the move. We will listen to our members and stakeholders to achieve our goal of being the primary European spine society supporting and collaborating with the very important national spine societies.
Thomas R. Blattert, MD, Prof
The Programme Committee is especially proud that we have been able to put together a meeting programme with extraordinary scientific strength. Out of 606 validly submitted abstracts, 70 were chosen for oral presentations after all of them had undergone a standardised review process with 18 reviewers in charge. Another 75 papers were selected for short communication/quickfire presentation. Finally, the authors of 94 abstracts submitted will have the chance to present their work as scientific posters throughout the meeting.
The three-day meeting will see a total of seven non-parallel scientific sessions, six scientific lunch symposia, two debates on current controversial topics, as well as five concurrent quickfire sessions. There will be several highlights like the Best-of-Show session featuring the eight highest scoring abstract submissions; the Medal and Awards Lectures; as well as a Keynote lecture from the local host of our Annual meeting.
Come and celebrate this pan-European highlight in spinal surgery and spinal sciences with us this October in Lyon, France. A first online version of the entire programme is now available on the EuroSpine website, www.eurospine2014.eu
Jean–Charles Le Huec, MD, PhD, Prof
On behalf of the local organising committee hosts, I would like to personally welcome you in Lyon to the annual EuroSpine meeting 2014. Lyon is a historic city designated as a UNESCO world heritage site. Enjoy the rich history of the town including the tradition of silk-weaving and also find out why Lyon is considered the ‘birthplace’ of cinema. Of course you will enjoy the French cuisine and wine in this gastronomic city. It will be an unforgettable experience. I would like to thank the organising committee for its help to give a personal French touch to this European Spine meeting.
For more information, visit www.eurospine2014.eu
