Learning
about Healthy Lifestyles, Stroke Prevention and Brain Impairment at
the WSO Summer School
The
Dubrovnik Summer School has become a regular feature on the World Stroke
Organization educational calendar. The school, which takes place from June 5-9, is a demonstration of the shared commitment of School Directors and WSO to
the education of young stroke professionals thorugh the dissemination of
knowledge and its application in their communities. The School is led by renowned experts: Prof. Roman Haberl from Munich, Prof. Kurt Niederkorn from Graz, Prof. David Russell from Oslo, Prof. Tatjana Rundek from Miami, Dr Hrvoje Budinčević from Zagreb and founder and coordinator of the program, Prof. Vida Demarin who take as inspiration the words of Thich Nhat Hanh: 'Happy Teachers Will Change The World'.
This year the Summer
Stroke School was attended by 65 neurologists
in training, clinical neurologists, academic neurologists, neuroscientists,
other scientists and research associates, as well as general practitioners and
other interested physicians. Most participants came from Central and Eastern Europe.
The educational objectives of the course were
to encourage cooperation and to promote exchange of knowledge and comparison of
stroke data between participants from different countries. Lectures and
workshops discussed all major aspects of stroke risk factors, as well as new
insights in epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation
of stroke.
Some of the main themes were: carotid atherosclerosis
and stroke, stroke mimics, cervical artery dissections, vascular cognitive
impairments, monitoring the brain during surgery, stroke service in Europe,
thrombectomy in rural areas, neuroimaging, atrial fibrillation and stroke,
anticoagulant therapy, cryptogenic stroke, silent brain infarctions, critical
issues in endovascular stroke treatment.
As brain diseases are increasing in number and
became a major medical and public health and financial problem, learning
objectives included other brain disorders as well: Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's dementia,
migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain and art, including a series of interesting
clinical cases .
Apart from excellent lectures given by course
directors Prof.Vida Demarin, Prof.Kurt Niederkorn, Prof.David Russell and
Dr.Hrvoje Budicevic, other eminent
lecturers held excellent lectures and workshops each in their area of
expertise. An extraordinary contribution was given by Dr. Frank Kraus from
Munich, who presented the Tempis Project (telemedicine project for integrated
stroke care in the region of South-East Bavaria) and the most important themes
of the ESO Congress held in Prague last month.
Dr. Gordian Hubert from Munich organized a great
workshop about the organization of emergency care for stroke patients in some
neighboring countries. Professor David Russell and Dianne Hanson held excellent
ultrasound hands-on workshops. Professor Cristina Tiu from Bucharest and
Professor Serefnur Ozturk from Ankara held interesting lectures and workshops
with case scenarios. Professor Dragutin Kadojić from Osijek and Assistant
Professor Marinko Dikanovic from Slavonski Brod gave significant contributions
about the epidemiology of neurological diseases and the problems of diagnosis
and treatment of stroke and complications. Hans van Elst showed the latest innovations
in ultrasound.
The course allowed knowledge transfer between
respected scientists from western countries and colleagues from Central and East
European countries working with stroke. After the lectures, the late afternoons
were reserved for a rich cultural programm with the goal to promote contacts
and future cooperation between participants from various countries.
Feedback
from the participants was excellent regarding the quality of organization,
relevance of the course
for their future work and selection of lecturers. The Summer Stroke School got
very good media coverage this year as well, including the Croatian radio television,
Dubrovnik Television (Dubrovnik TV), Radio Dubrovnik, Radio Ragusa and daily
newspapers, raising stroke awareness in the general
population and increasing the knowledge of stroke risk factors and warning signs.
Supporting and partner organisations
World Stroke Organization (WSO)
European Stroke Organization (ESO)
European Academy of Neurology (EAN)
World Federation of Neurology (WFN)
International Institute for Brain Health (IBRAIN)
University of Zagreb School of Medicine
Croatian Stroke Society
Central and Eastern European Stroke Society (CEESS)
Department of Medical Sciences of the Croatian Academy of
Sciences and Arts
Inter University Centre
Dubrovnik
