Communications Committee Update

John P. Lubicky, MD
Communications Committee Chair

Past issues of the SRS Newsletter are archived on the website for members to access as they wish. The newsletter’s purpose is to disseminate information about SRS activities and to present opportunities for involvement in order to increase engagement in society activities through the committee and council reports.

The newsletter also makes announcements concerning upcoming meetings as well as a Pat-on-the-Back and Obituary sections when indicated. The newsletter has reached out to SRS global partners for news of their events as well, though the response has been poor. The committee liaison, however, will continue this effort.

Committees or councils can, however, submit reports anytime if important or pressing issues arise. The newsletter has also initiated designated “Hot Topics” to draw the readers’ attention to particularly interesting or crucial reports in each issue. Because ethical issues in medicine and more specifically in spine surgery have become hot button issues, the newsletter is including an Ethics Committee section, Ethics Corner, in each issue that is designed to encourage audience response to ethical questions. The newsletter is also highlighting upcoming courses and meetings that would be of interest to members.

The committee was asked to identify and/or develop articles or items for designated SRS pages in each issue Spine Deformity - The Official Journal of the Scoliosis Research Society. Initial communications with the editor, John Lonstein, MD, indicated that such articles should be of research or educational nature. This will be pursued by the committee chair by soliciting short articles on topical subjects.

Chair: John P. Lubicky Committee: William F. Lavelle, MD; Vikas V. Varma, MD; Nelson R. Carvalho, MD; Abdul Malik Mohd Hussein, MBBS, FRCS; Justin S. Smith, MD, PhD; Vidyadhara Srinivasa, MS, DNB, FNB (Spine); Paul Celestre, MD