SICOT News
Report on the VI Egyptian Orthopaedic Association Spring Congress & XXIV SICOT Trainees' Meeting
 Ahmed H. AbdelazeemSICOT Active Member & SICOT Newsletter Editorial Board Member - Cairo, Egypt |
Every spring, the Egyptian Orthopaedic Association (EOA) organises a Congress in cooperation with one of the Egyptian universities. This year, it was Cairo University's (CU) role to scientifically organise this annual event. Aiming for a strong scientific event, we started planning one and a half year before. We wanted to implement new ideas and accordingly sought to involve an international body that would enrich and greatly contribute to the event. We knew from Prof Hatem Said that the Editorial Board meeting of the SICOT journal, International Orthopaedics (IO), would be held around the same time in Luxor, Egypt. Since then the Scientific Committee of the Congress, headed by Prof Ashraf El Nahal (former head of the CU Orthopaedics Department), together with the EOA Board, headed by Prof Alaa Elzoheiry, started contacting the IO Editorial Board members and the SICOT Head Office with a view to combining both events. We thought that it would be great to invite more international figures to participate in the event. Finally, we were able to find a common ground between all parties and start planning for this Congress.
In the beautiful ancient city of Luxor in the south of Egypt, on 2 and 3 March, the VI Egyptian Orthopaedic Association Spring Congress and XXIV SICOT Trainees' Meeting was successfully held. The event included more than 350 participants from all over Egypt, 13 international speakers and over 40 national speakers, as well as 20 trainees, presenting their work. The event started with an opening ceremony, with the attendance of the Luxor Governor, during which Prof Galal Said gave an interesting lecture about the medicine of the ancient Egyptian civilization emphasising the musculoskeletal part. Afterwards, over 100 presentations were given including lectures and free papers in different subspecialties such as general orthopaedics, traumatology, spine, upper limb, hip, and knee. Lectures were split into two rooms. Members of the EOA and the IO Editorial Board delivered strong scientific instructional lectures which enriched the event.
As the EOA and SICOT always encourage young surgeons’ participation, a ‘trainee session’ was held in the morning of the second day with the participation of 20 young surgeons from different institutes from all over the country. Each one presented a free paper. This was evaluated by a prestigious board from the CU, EOA, and SICOT Egyptian section. Ten prizes were given to the ten best presenters, based on the scientific content as well as their presentation skills. Three prizes were granted by SICOT in the form of free SICOT membership for one year. Other prizes were granted by the CU and SICOT Egyptian section in the form of financial support.
On Friday evening, a group of surgeons form Bristol, United Kingdom, held a very interesting interactive session on the basics of periprosthetic fractures management, exchanging their experience with other local and international faculty.
Beside this scientific part, all participants had plenty of time to enjoy and experience the marvellous history of the Pharaohs in this open museum, the city of Luxor. Furthermore, some could continue the trip to the past with a Nile River cruise, passing by different historical towns and cities heading south to the city of Aswan. It was really an enjoyable time with wonderful sunny weather in the south.
On behalf of all the members of the EOA Board, the Congress Scientific Committee, and the CU Orthopaedics Department, I would like to thank all the speakers as well as the participants for participating in this event and enriching it. We are looking forward to a future collaboration between SICOT and the Egyptian orthopaedic societies.
During the opening ceremony, from left to right; Prof Aly Elmoft (Head of CU Orthopaedics Department), Prof Anis Sheha (Head of EOA), Prof Adel Adawy (member of EOA Board), Dr Mohamed Badr (Luxor Governor), Prof Ashraf Elnahal (Head of the Scientific Committee), and Prof Faisal Adam (Head of Assiut University Orthopaedics Department)
Prof Francesco Falez (Italy), member of the IO Editorial Board, and Dr Marius Scarlat (France), Editor-in-Chief of IO, during the Congress
Lecture Hall during the event
Prof Khaled Fawzy, Prof Ashraf El Nahal, and Prof Anis Shiha
