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This renowned biannual international exchange programme for up and coming sports medicine orthopaedic surgeons, in collaboration with the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) and the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association (APOA), provides a stimulating environment for the global growth of sports medicine. Selected as potential leaders in sports medicine in the future, fellows will, among others

 

• participate in scientific symposia with host physicians
• view research facilities and surgical procedures
• attend a national sports medicine meeting in the region they are visiting
• participate in the social and cultural activities with the hosting sports medicine community

Application

Deadline: 1. October 2008
Application form to download

Application form to download

INSTRUCTIONS:

Send your application and all further correspondance to:
ESSKA Executive Office Luxembourg
Centre Médical - Clinique d'Eich
c/o Ms. Sandy Kirsch
76, rue d'Eich
L-1460 Luxembourg
E-mail: kirsch.sandy@chl.lu

Guidebook for travelling fellows

Congratulation for being selected for a traveling fellowship
You are representatives of ESSKA and have been selected as "up and coming" sports medicine orthopaedic surgeons. Your hosts know that you have been selected as potential leaders in sports medicine in the future and expect you to act accordingly. This includes being courteous, humble, patient, and respectful of others' cultures and customs. You will be judged not only on what you say but on your ability to listen and your interest in your hosts' opinions. Don't forget you are guests. (The godfather is expected to reinforce and model appropriate behavior).

Travel arrangements
All arrangements will be made by the ESSKA office. You will receive your tickets one month before the trip. Although some of you may be able to or want to upgrade to first class (using miles from various plans) this is discouraged as it takes away from the "group" experience. This pertains to the godfather as well.

Your accomodations will vary at different host sites.

Remember that all your local expenses are paid for by the individual hosts. Please thank them accordingly. You will be housed in hotels, private homes, and hospital residences. Sometimes you will share accomodations with each other; other times you will have private accomodations. As host financial resources vary, so will the quality of the accomodations. Please be understanding.

Itinerary
One month prior to your trip, you will be provided with a specific itinerary identifying your places of lodging as well as the names and phone numbers for your hosts.

Passports
You need to have a current valid passport. Check whether you need to obtain visa for the countries you will visit. You should also make a copy of your passport and carry it in a separate place so that it can be quickly replaced if lost or stolen. You should also leave a copy of it at home.

Business cards
Don't forget to bring with you a number of business cards to inform your hosts of your coordinates.

Expenses
All flights and a 750 $ or Euro allowance to cover incidental expenses such as laundry, phone calls etc., are paid for by funds donated to ESSKA by Aircast. Lodging, meals, group entertainment and transfers to and from airports at your destinations are paid for by the hosts.

You may want to have a small amount of local currency (for snacks, newspapers, airport departure tax) for the various countries you will visit. Otherwise, we recommend carrying traveler's checks and a credit card or two.

Presentations
You will each be expected to have three presentations. At most sites, you may only present one, but occasionally you will be asked to present more than one and possibly all three ! (By the end of the trip you may feel like you are able to present each other's talks! Don't.)

Keep the presentations low tech (i.e. slides). You might bring your presentations on CD or computer. Usually there are dual carousels available but be sure to check when you arrive at each location. (This is the respondibility of the godfather). Be prepared to change to one carousel if needed. If you have other special needs for presentations, please try to let the hosts know as soon as possible.

The Godfather should also communicate with the Fellows prior to the trip to make sure that there is a diversity in the presentations (for example, so that all the talks are not about ACLs). The Traveling Fellowship Committee looks for diversity in areas of interest when selecting the Fellows so this should not be a problem.

If you have reprints associated with your presentations, bring one for each host site. Your host can have them duplicated for the attendees. You will usually be presenting to a group of orthopaedic surgeons. At some sites your audience will include medical sports medicine doctors, physical therapists, nurses and other paramedical personnel. It's a good idea to ask your hosts about your audience when you arrive so that you know how to pitch your presentations. Your audience may range from 15 practice partners to 100 people at grand rounds to 1,000 if you are speaking at an international meeting.

Be prepared to vary the length of your presentations. At most sites you will be given 10-15 minutes to present a paper. Some hosts may want your presentations to be shorter and some longer.

Gifts
You may want to bring with you some small inexpensive gifts unique to your home area or academic institution. Often you will be transported by residents or fellows and it is nice to give them some token of your appreciation also: something as simple as a keychain or other small items such as pens or shot glasses imprinted with the logo of your institution, city, or local sports team. You may also be entertained in private homes or transported by your hosts's spouses. Think about gifts you might take that would be suitable for them (e.g. most women prefer musical CDs to ties). We encourage you to communicate with other members of your group so that your gifts are comparable.

Thank yous
We strongly suggest writing your thank you letters as you go so that you are not overwhelmed when you return home.

Trip log
Each group is expected to present a short summary of its trip at the subsequent biannual ESSKA meeting. Five minutes will be allotted for this. Usually the presentation is made by the godfather but this can be worked out within the group.

The group is also expected to write up a slightly longer summary with highlights (both educational and cultural) from each site visited. This will be published in the ESSKA News Letter.

In order to put together these summaries, you must keep a log as you go. In some groups all the fellows elect to keep their own journals. In other groups the fellows and godfather alternate days on which one of them is responsible for noting their activities. Some groups have opted to take along a dictaphone and tapes. If your group decides to do this, be thinking about who is going to do the transcription when you get home. Ultimately, your log will need to be edited for the presentation and publication mentioned above.

Some groups have created pictorial journals of their trips and sent copies back to their hosts.

Bring a camera and plenty of film. This will be one of the more memorable experiences of your life. Take pictures of each other as well as of your hosts and the hosting institutions.

Feedback
After your return, you will receive a survey from the Traveling Fellowship Committee asking for your feedback concerning your trip. It is critical that you complete this survey so that we can continue to improve the fellowship and make it as meaningful and fun as possible.

Clothing
Selecting your clothing such that everything goes with everything else will help you keep the number of items down. Bring items that withstand wrinkling so you can use them more than once. Also choose major clothing items that can be dressed up or down so you can wear them in a variety of social situations. You will need comfortable clothing to travel in, business clothes, clothes for recreation, and clothing for dinners. Some dinners are more formal than others (depending on the country) and you may want to bring a suit or cocktail dress. Remember that you will be meeting with different people every few days so you won't need to be concerned about being seen in the same outfits over and over again. Packing clothing in plastic dry cleaning bags helps prevent wrinkling.

Be sure to have comfortable walking shoes.

A few of the stops will be for more than two days and you will have opportunity to have laundry done. You may want to consider to bring some detergent to do some personal laundry along the way.

Electrical adaptors
You will need adaptors in order to use any electrical personal appliances. They are country specific and are available from travel stores, luggage stores, ...

Luggage
You should carry your slides, an extra shirt and any critical personal toiletries in your carry on luggage. Your carry on needs to be small enough to fit under the seat in front of you. Some of the airlines, especially in Asia, are really strict about this.

Try to limit the number and size of your suitcases as many of your hosts' European and Asian cars have small trunks. Pack light ! A maximum of two pieces of luggage is ideal. Try to limit yourself to what you can comfortably carry by yourself, if necessary. You might consider bringing an extra folding or expandable suitcase because you will receive gifts along the way and may be purchasing souvenirs. One way or another, you will be returning home with more baggage than when you left. You may want to consider making arrangements to send gifts home so that you don't have to transport them.

Medications
In addition to your personal medications, you may need immunizations depending on what countries you are visiting and your personal immunization history. You will be advised in a timely manner if immunizations are necessary. If you are visiting tropical areas, we strongly suggest that you bring insect repellant. In all countries, you may want to have pepto bismol, imodium, and a course of ciprofloxacin.

Guest host relations
Remember that you are ambassadors of goodwill as well as ambassadors of science. Meet whatever situations you encounter graciously and gratefully. Anticipate that some hosts may not be as "advanced" scientifically as others. Almost always, however, there are cultural, social, or historical lessons to be learned. In the unlikely event you have a strongly negative experience, keep your reactions to yourself and report your thoughts to the Traveling Fellowship Committee after the trip.

Prior to the trip, try to read something about the culture and history of the places you will be visiting. Not only will this increase your own enjoyment, but it will also make you a better conversationalist and guest. Try to learn a bit of the language of one or more of the countries you will be visiting. This might consist of as little as a greeting or a few introductory sentences used at the beginning of your talk, or a toast or thank you to be used at a meal or banquet. In this era of English language dominance in the world, it is amazing how much this token gesture will be appreciated.

 

Past fellowship winners:

ESSKA Congress 2010

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Newsletters

• April 2008
• December 2007
• April 2007
• December 2006