Five weeks to deadline to submit focused symposia

There are only five weeks left to submit your focused symposium before the 25 April deadline.

Focused symposia are one of congress’s key sessions. Each 60-minute session includes high profile speakers, draws large audiences, and aims to create insightful and engaging learning experiences that ultimately inform, inspire, involve and empower participants.

The congress programme committee is interested in any topic, but is particularly keen to see proposals that address the following:

how physiotherapy needs to change to address global health issues, such as the demands of an ageing population, physical activity, health literacy, health systems funding, and topics identified in the Rehabilitation 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals
professional challenges across all areas, such as diversity and inclusion, quality assurance, knowledge translation, implicit bias, mental health, and wellbeing
the role of innovative technology in physiotherapy such as big data management, artificial intelligence, robotics, and virtual reality

Deadline for submissions: 25 April 2024

Chief executive officer Jonathon Kruger to leave World Physiotherapy

After almost eight years as chief executive officer, Jonathon Kruger will be leaving World Physiotherapy in May 2024 to take up a new role.

Since joining World Physiotherapy in mid-2016, Jonathon has led a number of strategic activities and projects to shape the profession globally and to improve the governance and operations of the organisation.

Michel Landry, World Physiotherapy president, said: “Jonathon, as chief executive officer, has been a stalwart advocate and defender for global physiotherapists and World Physiotherapy over the last eight years. His steadfast dedication, commitment, and passion for World Physiotherapy are inspirational, and he leaves a lasting legacy. His many accomplishments as a leader are impressive, and he will be missed within our organisation. The World Physiotherapy community extends our sincere appreciation for all that he has built, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

The World Physiotherapy board will shortly commence a recruitment process to appoint a new chief executive officer.

Follow this link for registration!>

PROGRAMME

THE VENUE

IFSPT GENERAL MEETING:

June 13, 1:30 pm

Norwegian Organization Headquarters

IFSPT NETWORKING SESSION:

June 13, 4 pm

Norwegian Organization Headquarters

2024 ELECTION:

The election will be held fully online, beginning June 10 and closing at midnight EST on June 12. A voting link will be sent with instructions to your designated delegate for voting. Votes received after midnight EST, June 13 will not be counted.

New EB members will be announced at the IFSPT General Meeting on June 13, 2024, in Oslo, Norway.

IMPORTANT DATES

ALFA CARE PRIZE SUBMISSIONS: April 1

May 14, 2024: Workshops

June 13, 2024: IFSPT General Meeting

June 14-15, 2024: Congress

INFORMATION FOR IFSPT ATTENDEES!

We have kindly been provided some helpful material for our delegates, attendees, and guests by the Norwegian group.

FOR DELEGATES:

The IFSPT General Meeting will be held at location a short walk from the conference hotel on June 13.

The General Meeting begins promptly at 1:30 PM local time. Please see the walking map below.

A networking session will follow in the the same location at 4 pm following the GM.

For maps and other information, please follow think link>

FOR ATTENDEES AND THEIR GUESTS:

The Hotel is located close to several points of interest in Oslo. See link here>

HELP PROMOTE YOUR OFFICIAL CONGRESS!

We need your help to promote the Fifth World Congress of Sports Physical Therapy! Please use the linked graphics below to promote Congress participation in your country. Other graphic sizes available upon request to Mary Wilkinson. Link all graphics to https://www.wcspt.org. Thank you for your support!

Kiyokazu Akasaka, JSSPT, congress chair, Mario Bizzini, Mina Samukawa, and Junia Aizawa, JSSPT president.

JANUARY SPORTS CONGRESS IN JAPAN HOSTS OVER 1100 ATTENDEES!

By Mario Bizzini, Switzerland

Prof. Akasaka (Saitama Medical University, chair of the conference) opened the 10th edition of the annual conference of the Japanese Society of Sports Physical Therapy (JSSPT) at Sonic City (Omiya, Saitama) in front of more than 1100 attendees (a record for this conference).

The 2 keynote lectures were given by myself, Mario Bizzini (Switzerland; Injury prevention programs in sports), and Rafael Escamilla (USA; Biomechanics and prevention strategies of shoulder and elbow injuries in baseball pitching). The 2 days were filled with several parallel sessions on various topics (with a slight dominance of ACL and baseball-related presentations). Japanese people (and many Japanese sports PTs) are just crazy about baseball, and the recent hype around superstar Shohei Ohtani (newly with LA Dodgers, after signing the biggest contract in Major League Baseball history) has only reinforced this passion.

Koji Murofushi, a former Olympic athlete (gold medal, Hammer throw, 2004) with a PhD in Sports Science, currently Head of the Japan Sports Agency, is a strong supporter of the important role of sports PT in athlete’s care. Invited by JSSPT, he held a lecture at the conference, strengthening the needed political support to Japanese sports PTs. Newly elected in the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT) executive board, Mina Samukawa, PhD, PT (assistant Professor, Hokkaido University) may play an important role as well in this direction. She is also a board member of JSSPT (chaired by Dr. Aizawa), which currently includes about 1300 members (20% women), and a board member of the IFSPT.

Mario Bizzini at the podium, with Mina Samukawa, IFSPT board member at the opposite side of the stage.

Junia Aizawa, JSSPT president, Mina Samukawa, Mario Bizzini, and Koji Murofushi, a former Olympic athlete

On January 9th, Mina invited me to give some lectures at the Hokkaido University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sapporo. The Hokkaido University (founded 1876) in Sapporo is the oldest university in Japan. Mina has worked here for 20 years, now as an Assistant Professor (will become a full Professor in April: congratulations!!) and is heavily involved in teaching and coordinating research for the university Sports PT program. We also met one of her mentors, Prof. Katayose Masaki, PhD, PT, dean of Health Sciences at the Medical University Sapporo.

Beautiful Hokkaido University in the snow!

The next couple of days were reserved to hit the slopes at some of the oldest ski resorts near Sapporo, namely Teine (home of the alpine skiing during the 1972 Winter Olympics) and Asari (close to the historical harbour city of Otaru). With Mina and Taksumi (a sports PT working for the Japanese Freestyle National Team), two excellent alpine skiers, I was lucky to experience some breathtaking powder snow downhill rides.

Taksumi, Mario, and Mina on Mount Teine, home of the 1972 Winter Olympics alpine skiing.

On the 12th, I flew back to Tokyo for an invited lecture at the Tokyo college of sports and recreation, home of long-time friend Dr. Mitsunori Tsumaki (Athletic Trainer, Acupuncturist). This college is part of the JIKEI Group, which has currently 83 professional training colleges located in major cities throughout Japan. In the audience were students from the four schools (Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, Acupuncture and Judo Therapy) and many friends, who I’ve met during my career. In the afternoon we had the chance to visit the “YUME Field” (Field of dreams), the official JFA training center (located in Chiba-city, close to Tokyo), where the National Football teams have their headquarters. Both the women (Nadeshiko) and men (Samurai Blue) national teams benefit from these top facilities, and this may be one of the reasons of their successes in the recent World Cups.

IOC CONFERENCE: IFSPT IN MONACO

The 7th IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport took place in Monaco from 29 February to 2 March 2024. The IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport is the premier international conference for those interested in clinical aspects of sports and exercise medicine. The diverse faculty represent the pre-eminent international authorities in injury and illness prevention. This triennial conference is a unique opportunity for the global sport and exercise medicine community to meet face to face in the ideal environment that Monaco provides.

Once again, IFSPT members, leaders and leadership were on hand for the proceedings. This year's congress was especially important given the upcoming Olympics in Paris this summer.

Of particular note was the FIFA 11+ presentation regarding injury prevention in the African woman athlete. Former IFSPT board members Ummukulthoum Bakare and Mario Bizzini, as well as speakers Holly Silvers-Granelli, Matt Whalen and Wesam Al Attar, presented the symposium. Congratulations to all speakers!

Speakers for the FIFA 11+ presentation: Wesam Al Attar, Matt Whalen, Holly Silvers-Granelli, Ummukulthoum Bakare, and Mario Bizzini. Below, Ummukulthoum Bakare presents.

Former IFSPT Board Members Ummukulthoum Bakare (NGR), Mario Bizzini (SUI), and Suzanne Gard (SUI), IFSPT Treasurer, relax together between sessions.

Left to right: Martin Asker (SWE), Clare Ardern (AUS-CAN, JOSPT editor-in-chief), Andrea Mosler (AUS), Mario Bizzini (SUI), Joanne Kemp (AUS).

Ummukulthoum Bakare with Mari Bizzini (left) and Peter Halén (FIN) at the Monaco IOC Conference

Left to Right: Kate Simkovic (AUS, ASCEP), Karim Khan (CAN), Scarlet and Kymberleigh Bray (White Leaf Solutions), Mario Bizzini.

CONFERENCES

PROGRAMME

REGISTRATION

BE SURE TO ATTEND THE JOINT IFSPT-ESMA SESSION!

ICL25 One Sport, One Lesion: What have we Learnt?

Joint IFSPT-ESMA Sports Medicine Session

Friday, May 10, 07:30 – 08:30

The objective of this session is to let a binoma made by a PT and an orthopedic surgeon make an interactive update of what we know and we have to do concerning one of the major pathologies in 4 different sports:

Ski and Knee: Alexandre Rambaud (France) and Marc Strauss (Norway)

Football and Groin Pain: Kristian Thorborg (Denmark) and Vikas Khanduja (UK)

Basketball and Ankle: Brice Picot (France) and Keres Ülkü (Turkey)

Athletics and Muscular Lesions: Rik Tacken (The Netherlands) and Gino Kerkhoffs (The Netherlands)

Join us for this dynamic session!