Education Committee Update
Amer Samdani, MD
Education Committee Chair
The Education Committee is tasked with developing educational content for the Annual Meeting, webinars, exploring partnerships with outside organizations, and working with other committees under the umbrella of the Education Council. Following the careful review and selection of submitted proposals that will make up the educational offerings in the Annual Meeting and webinars, the agendas for the 2021 year are nearing completion. We would like to thank all who worked diligently to prepare and submit the numerous excellent proposals received.
Annual Meeting Educational Sessions
We begin the live hybrid (offered in-person and virtual) Annual Meeting with the Pre-Meeting Course on Wednesday, September 22 “Spine is Just the Tip of the Iceberg: Comprehensive Management of the Patient with Spine Deformity and Surgeon.” This course will highlight the complex spine patient with underlying comorbidities which the spine surgeon must be cognizant of in order to provide optimal care. The planners of this course (myself, Mike Kelly, and Justin Smith) have been working to refine the program and identify our many guest specialty speakers from the St. Louis area.
Following the PMC, we breakout in to the 60-minute Lunchtime Symposia that will discuss:
- Vertebral Body Tethering: Topics for Debate and Discussion
- My Worst Complication and How I Dealt with It
- Artificial Intelligence and Computerized Decision Support Tools
On Thursday afternoon, September 23, Annual Meeting attendees will have the opportunity to attend the Half-Day Courses on topics:
- Preoperative Planning for Adult Deformity
- When New Technology in Pediatric Deformity Grows Up: Lessons Learned
We close Thursday’s educational offerings with the increasingly-popular, Early Career Surgeon Session helmed by the Early Career Surgeon Task Force. Early career attendees will have the ability to relax and discuss challenging cases that arise in early practice and those deemed to be “ordinary” while enjoying snacks and refreshments with other early career attendees and some senior SRS members.
New this year, on Friday, opposite of the SRS Membership Meeting, we have put together a program for Neurosurgeons and those interested in Minimally Invasive Surgery. Our nonmembers can enjoy the special 90-minute Lunchtime Symposia, MIS v Open Deformity Surgery: Case-Based Debates. Those attending the Member Business Meeting can view the MIS session on-demand afterward via the online meeting platform.
In addition to the educational program of the annual meeting, our members will have the opportunity to attend the following regularly scheduled Professional Webinars throughout the remainder of 2021:
- Scoliosis and Intraspinal Anomalies/Dural Ectasia: Case-Based Debate | March 27
- PJK Prevention in ASD: How Do We Mitigate Risk? | May 29
- Sagittal Plane Alignment in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Importance, Planning, Education| July 31
- Anterior Approaches to the Thoracolumbar Spine: Tricks, Peals, and Complications | August 22
- Global Outreach and Scoliosis Surgery |October 16
- Non-Operative Management of the Spine, a Collaboration with SOSORT | November 7
I look forward to seeing or interacting online with many of you at the Annual Meeting in St. Louis this September and to discussing our educational offerings for this year as well as your suggestions and opinions on gaps in our educational program for next year and beyond. Sincere thanks to all that put in extensive hours to bring the program together, in particular Lily Atonio, Suken Shah, and Muharrem Yazici.
Chair: Amer F. Samdani Committee: Baron S. Lonner, Past Chair; Ahmet Alanay; Charles E. Johnston; Michael Kelly, Program; Luiz Muller Avila (C); Carlos E. Barsotti (C); Arvindera Ghag (C); Christine Hardsety (C); Ali Humadi (C); Nicolas Plais (C); Stephen W. Hwang; Yong Qiu; Saumyajit Basu, WWC; Steven Hwang, CME; Munish C. Gupta; Stefan Parent; Justin S. Smith, Chair Elect; Mark Erickson; Marissa M. Muccio (A); Ibrahim Obeid