 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
NEWSLETTER
October 2009 Dear Member The aim of this newsletter is to keep you up to date with the most recent events and dealings of the ExCo and Congress Committees of the Society. Once again we would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to participate in the activities of the Society. At all times feel free to contact any member of the Exco about anything that you feel should be discussed, criticism of the way that Exco handles your affairs and suggestions about the protocols that are on the website. We would appreciate contributions that would strengthen and make the Society more influential, which would give us more power in negotiations that affect our future. SASS CONGRESS SUN CITY: 29 – 31 MAY 2009 What we did learn from this congress was that one must not schedule a session on a Sunday morning. Many of the overseas speakers preferred to leave on the Saturday evening to be home on Sunday and at their offices on the following Monday. MEMBERSHIP We regret to announce that Dr M P du Plessis was killed in a motor accident some weeks prior to our meeting. The Society extends its condolences to his wife and family. We request members to please check if the detail of their membership is still unchanged and if not, to communicate with the Secretary at: spinecon@iafrica.com. It was also noted that there were members who were in arrears in payment of their membership and we appeal to them to please respond to the reminders to do so. Unfortunately some members have had their membership suspended because they were in arrears in paying their fees for more than three years. SASS CONGRESS The next meeting will be in Cape Town from Wednesday to Saturday, 19-22
May, 2010. The 2010 meeting will be a combined congress between the SASS
and the SRS (Scoliosis Research Society) and Wednesday 19 and Thursday
morning 20 May have been set aside for the SRS Instructional Course. Call for Papers as well as congress registration will be administered on-line. Please check the website on a regular basis in this regard. The Exco has decided to establish a more permanent Congress Organizing Committee under the chairmanship of Prof Robert Dunn. This will be the arrangement for the next few years and will then be reviewed. He will oversee the structure of the academic activities of such a meeting, arrange the invitations of the overseas invited guests and organize the final format of the meeting. Prof Dunn and his team will receive a stipend as discussed at the last AGM. The meeting will be offered in rotation once again to major units elsewhere in the country who will then be the local hosts and a member from this group will liaise with Prof Robert Dunn. CHANGES IN CONSTITUTION Provisions exist for amendments under Article 17 of the Constitution to implement changes in this regard. ELECTED OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY The Secretary will act in this position for two years. He may be re-elected. The Treasurer and Membership Secretary will now be a single office and will act for two years. He may be re-elected. The Academic co-ordinator is a new addition to the structure and the co-ordinator will act in this position for two years and may be re-elected. The Academic Co-ordinator will have the function to oversee, update and formulate new guidelines and protocols, and he will be responsible for maintenance and updating of information on the Society’s web page. He will interface with other academic societies and medical funders. All aspects of decision making and recommendations will always be discussed by the Exco in a full meeting or by correspondence and a combined opinion will be formulated that will then be finalized. The present Exco is constituted as follows: President : Dr Daan de Klerk SECRETARIAL STRUCTURE A full time additional secretary, Miss Marilyn van den Bergh, has been appointed and she will be at the offices of Prof Robert Dunn. WEBSITE Discussions with the present webmaster will be held and members will be updated about the final decisions.
GUIDELINES FOR MEDICAL EXPERT WITNESS IN SPINAL MEDICO-LEGAL
MATTERS GUIDELINES FOR DOCTOR INDUSTRY RELATIONSHIP Matters that have been forwarded to the EXCO by various medical aids for discussion and opinion are mainly the following: • Thermo-coagulation and other pain procedures We have communicated with members of other speciality groups to make a contribution in this regard. A combined set of proposed codes will be established and a fee allocated and then circulated for discussion by members of our and other societies before making a final proposal. • Multiple coding SOUTH AFRICAN ORTHOPAEDIC ASSOCIATION MEMBER INPUT – TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION AT NEXT EXCO MEETING FUTURE EVENTS
FUTURE EVENTS North American Spine Society: • 25th Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida • 26th Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois • 27th Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas International Society for The Study of The Lumbar Spine (ISSLS 2010),
Auckland, New Zealand Britspine 2010, Liverpool, UK 34th Annual Scientific Meeting American Academy of Neurological and Orthopaedic
Surgeons, Denver, USA European Section of The Cervical Spine Research Society, Corfu Island,
Greece World Forum for Spine Research, Montreal, Canada 17th International Meeting On Advanced Spine Techniques (IMAST), Toronto,
Canada EuroSpine 2010, Vienna, Austria |