Save the date! WCPT Congress Geneva, Switzerland 10th-13th May 2019.
With less than a year to go the list of the prestigious focused symposia have been released. They are both impressive and inspiring and it’s going to be a real challenge deciding which ones to attend.
If you are new to conference life and are unsure what focused symposia are, they one of congress’s key sessions and a must go to event. They are one-and-a-half-hour sessions led by a chair who is a recognised expert in the field. The chair has the responsibility for inviting and leading a group of international speakers, from at least three WCPT regions, through a series of evidence based and critically reflective linked presentations, drawing out the relevance to practitioners, managers, educators, researchers and/or policy makers.
Focused symposia provide a forum where cutting edge topics can be explored and debated, drawing together different research and practice perspectives. As part of an international team, focused symposium chairs and speakers can explore the implications of the latest research and thinking as well as debate controversies and lay the foundations for future interactions and initiatives. As an example of what to expect the video below is a session from South Africa.
In 2019, the congress programme includes 26 focused symposia featuring 119 speakers from around the world. And here they are:
- Advanced Practice, chaired by Jonathan Warren.
- Application of Evidence, chaired by Mark Elkins.
- Big Data, chaired by Karim Kahn.
- Cancer Survivor Rehabilitation, chaired by Jacqueline Drouin.
- Cardiorespiratory: Technology Revolution, chaired by Shane Patman.
- Diversity & Inclusion, chaired by Jenny Setchell.
- Education: Research, chaired by Gail Jensen.
- Education: Technology & Informatics, chaired by Mark Merolli.
- Electrophysical Modalities, chaired by Tim Watson.
- Falls Around the World, chaired by Susan Hunter.
- Leadership, chaired by Emer McGowan.
- Lower Limb Amputations, chaired by Leslie Angama.
- Mental Health, chaired by Michel Probst.
- Mobility of Hospitalised Patients, chaired by Cindy Weenhof.
- Modern Technology in Rehabilitation, chaired by Eva Ekvall Hansson.
- Motor Imagery in Neurorehabilitation, chaired by Corina Schuster-Amft.
- MSK: Integrating Occupational Factors, chaired by Nathan Hutting.
- MSK: Shoulder & Elbow, chaired by Jeremy Lewis.
- Pain: Vulnerable Populations, chaired by Lori Maria Walton.
- Physical Activity, chaired by Anna Lowe.
- Physical Therapy in Knee-Hip Osteoarthritis, chaired by Martin van der Esch.
- Preoperative Physiotherapy, chaired by Julie Reeve.
- Rehabilitation in Human Emergencies, chaired by Peter Skelton.
- Strengthening Rehabilitation Leadership, chaired by Pauline Kleinitz.
- Stroke: Neuromodulation & Virtual Reality, chaired by Mindy F.Levin.
- Stroke: Robot-assisted Gait Training, chaired by Eva Swinnen.
If you’ve got some top tips for how to make the most out of symposia sessions for our readers please let us know in the comments!