Board Walk
Board Walk – July 2015
IHS: Sustaining momentum, fostering collaboration, facilitating advocacy
Dear colleagues, I write to you with tremendous enthusiasm and optimism as I assume the role of President of the International Headache Society. The state of the society is very strong and I have been quite fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn a great deal from the members of your board during this transition period. These are a highly committed, experienced, and visionary group of leaders and I look forward to working with our returning and incoming leaders on your behalf. One of the first orders of business will be to assemble a group of leaders within the society for a strategic planning meeting in September 2015. I am confident we will emerge from this meeting with a clear view of our strategic and resource allocation priorities and a plan for implementation. One of these priorities will be education. Professor Rapoport has previously outlined the accomplishments of the society over the past 2 years under his leadership, especially in the area of education. Education is fundamental to our mission of making certain that high quality care is delivered to patients around the world who are suffering with headache. Together with Professor Allan Purdy and other colleagues, we will plan to build on the momentum that has been established and continue to think strategically to assure our educational programs are relevant to
Cephalalgia 2015, Vol. 35(8) 737–738 ! International Headache Society 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0333102415584547 cep.sagepub.com
clinicians and scientists who will deliver care and advance the field. Our patient base is enormous – third largest among medical illnesses in the world. However, our field is small. The numbers who have dedicated their careers to headache medicine – whether in the clinic or laboratory – is finite and dwarfed by the number of patients who rely on us. The amount of work to be done at times appears daunting, especially with precious little funding and resources dedicated to headache research and care. As a result, in the last half-century, only a single class of drug specifically designed and approved for acute migraine treatment is available today – even worse, we do not have migraine specific treatments available for prevention. The status quo is not acceptable, progress must be made, and it’s our collective responsibility to effect positive change. Collaboration and advocacy should therefore be important mandates moving forward. Creating an infrastructure that allows clinicians and investigators to pool resources and skill sets is possible; creating a climate and a process where like-minded and well-intentioned organizations and groups can come together, raise awareness, and advocate for more resources on behalf of the patients we serve – is essential. I believe the International Headache Society is positioned for this global leadership opportunity and I intend to work tirelessly with the leadership of the society, and on your behalf, to see these mandates move forward. I am humbled by this opportunity and responsibility. In the spirit of working together, I need your help, collaboration, and guidance. This field is brimming with individuals who think creatively – I welcome and encourage your ideas and suggestions – please never hesitate to reach out to me. With best wishes, David W. Dodick M.D., President, International Headache Society [email protected]
738 Headache education 2015 and beyond!
Medical Education is a very difficult and tricky area for a lot of physicians. It probably should be left with the educators. Teaching, however, is something we all do and is based in large part on the principles derived from education. In headache, it is vital we teach when we are presenting in lectures, clinical or scientific in nature, publishing papers, reviewing cases or interacting in groups in person and online. The International Headache Society is charged with creating and supporting knowledge in the field and dissemination of such knowledge around the world. To date we have been
Cephalalgia 35(8) successful in doing that but we still are not sure whether this ‘learning’ changes the behavior of physicians/providers, or benefits patients. If medical education is difficult then evaluating the outcomes of education programs is more difficult, since in large part it is depends on who and what is being evaluated and how the knowledge learned is used locally and in the culture where it is to be employed. Many barriers exist to disseminating the knowledge in the field so we need a plan to make this happen and opportunities abound in this digital world, and one where travel and onsite experts can be so useful to advancing the field. Thus we live in exciting times indeed and in September, the Board of the IHS will meet in London to plan overall strategy for IHS, including educational initiatives. I look forward to working with everyone around the world to improve our ‘teaching’ of headache medicine. R. Allan Purdy MD, FRCPC, FACP, FAHS Professor of Medicine (Neurology) Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada [email protected]
Copyright of Cephalalgia (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
Board Walk – July 2015
IHS: Sustaining momentum, fostering collaboration, facilitating advocacy
Dear colleagues, I write to you with tremendous enthusiasm and optimism as I assume the role of President of the International Headache Society. The state of the society is very strong and I have been quite fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn a great deal from the members of your board during this transition period. These are a highly committed, experienced, and visionary group of leaders and I look forward to working with our returning and incoming leaders on your behalf. One of the first orders of business will be to assemble a group of leaders within the society for a strategic planning meeting in September 2015. I am confident we will emerge from this meeting with a clear view of our strategic and resource allocation priorities and a plan for implementation. One of these priorities will be education. Professor Rapoport has previously outlined the accomplishments of the society over the past 2 years under his leadership, especially in the area of education. Education is fundamental to our mission of making certain that high quality care is delivered to patients around the world who are suffering with headache. Together with Professor Allan Purdy and other colleagues, we will plan to build on the momentum that has been established and continue to think strategically to assure our educational programs are relevant to
Cephalalgia 2015, Vol. 35(8) 737–738 ! International Headache Society 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0333102415584547 cep.sagepub.com
clinicians and scientists who will deliver care and advance the field. Our patient base is enormous – third largest among medical illnesses in the world. However, our field is small. The numbers who have dedicated their careers to headache medicine – whether in the clinic or laboratory – is finite and dwarfed by the number of patients who rely on us. The amount of work to be done at times appears daunting, especially with precious little funding and resources dedicated to headache research and care. As a result, in the last half-century, only a single class of drug specifically designed and approved for acute migraine treatment is available today – even worse, we do not have migraine specific treatments available for prevention. The status quo is not acceptable, progress must be made, and it’s our collective responsibility to effect positive change. Collaboration and advocacy should therefore be important mandates moving forward. Creating an infrastructure that allows clinicians and investigators to pool resources and skill sets is possible; creating a climate and a process where like-minded and well-intentioned organizations and groups can come together, raise awareness, and advocate for more resources on behalf of the patients we serve – is essential. I believe the International Headache Society is positioned for this global leadership opportunity and I intend to work tirelessly with the leadership of the society, and on your behalf, to see these mandates move forward. I am humbled by this opportunity and responsibility. In the spirit of working together, I need your help, collaboration, and guidance. This field is brimming with individuals who think creatively – I welcome and encourage your ideas and suggestions – please never hesitate to reach out to me. With best wishes, David W. Dodick M.D., President, International Headache Society [email protected]
738 Headache education 2015 and beyond!
Medical Education is a very difficult and tricky area for a lot of physicians. It probably should be left with the educators. Teaching, however, is something we all do and is based in large part on the principles derived from education. In headache, it is vital we teach when we are presenting in lectures, clinical or scientific in nature, publishing papers, reviewing cases or interacting in groups in person and online. The International Headache Society is charged with creating and supporting knowledge in the field and dissemination of such knowledge around the world. To date we have been
Cephalalgia 35(8) successful in doing that but we still are not sure whether this ‘learning’ changes the behavior of physicians/providers, or benefits patients. If medical education is difficult then evaluating the outcomes of education programs is more difficult, since in large part it is depends on who and what is being evaluated and how the knowledge learned is used locally and in the culture where it is to be employed. Many barriers exist to disseminating the knowledge in the field so we need a plan to make this happen and opportunities abound in this digital world, and one where travel and onsite experts can be so useful to advancing the field. Thus we live in exciting times indeed and in September, the Board of the IHS will meet in London to plan overall strategy for IHS, including educational initiatives. I look forward to working with everyone around the world to improve our ‘teaching’ of headache medicine. R. Allan Purdy MD, FRCPC, FACP, FAHS Professor of Medicine (Neurology) Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada [email protected]
Copyright of Cephalalgia (Sage Publications Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
