International SPINAL CORD society

Education Committee - Strategic Plan

Short-term plan (Activities to be implemented within 1 year)

  1. Send a representative of ISCoS to as many major related conferences taking place in various parts of the world as would be manageable & possible; alternatively impress on organisers to have their own faculty members in the field of SCI management. The Committee could liase with organizers of these conferences and with various other related Societies to have a session on spinal injury if it is relevant to the theme.
  2. Popularise Fellowships/Observership of SCI management being offered by ISCoS and other organizations; Guidelines for selection to be framed.
  3. Community awareness about Spinal cord injuries, its prevention and management. The help of national and international Media could be taken in this regard.
  4. Space could be earmarked in the ISCoS website for relevant educational material. Emphasis should be on having linkages with other good websites especially PARADOC FAQ’s could be also put; Practicality of ultimately having a Live Website would also be explored; Possibility of developing Training Modules from Durban effort would be explored.
  5. Liase with WHO and other health organizations with regard to its various educational activities.
  6. To look for sources of funding for various educational activities.

Long-term plan (activities to be implemented within 1 to 3 years)

  1. (1 to 6 as mentioned in short-term plan)
  2. Promote Regional Spinal Cord Societies to come out with their journals / newsletters / bulletins, organize conferences / symposiums and to be proactive for other educational & training activities pertaining to spinal cord Injuries.
  3. Liase with concerned authorities for inclusion of SCI Management within the curriculum of MBBS degree and that of other concerned para medical professions like Nurses, Psychologists, Social workers etc.; simultaneously encourage students to take electives on SCI management.
  4. Sensitize government officials & NGO’s/ organisations as well as medical / paramedical professionals about the impact of SCI Management and Prevention on the quality of lives of the spinal injured and the economy of the Nation & hence the need for setting of Spinal Cord Injury services i.e. either develop Spinal Injury Centres or develop / strengthen units in hospitals for Spinal Injury Management. Such centers / units could then be encouraged to organize training programmes for SCI Management. Sensitize policy makers in Central and Regional Governments to have a National Spinal Cord Injuries Programme.
  5. Explore possibilities of providing cheaper/only online access to Spinal Cord for professionals from developing countries.

Suggested steps for implementation of action plan:

Short-term (within 1 year)

  1. The Education Committee would need to be strengthened.
  2. Possibility of having Sub Committees would be explored; Vice Presidents of ISCOS could be invited on the committee.
  3. The representatives could be made responsible for implementing the approved plan in his / her country.
  4. Making the affiliated Societies responsible for implementing the approved plan of educational activities of ISCoS.
  5. Promote Networking of various NGO’s / Societies / Organizations working in this field.
  6. Popularise ISCoS endorsed protocols of SCI management. These could be the resource material for educational
  7. activities.Consider publishing a list of centres involved in SCI Management training around the globe. Regional Societies could be delegated the responsibility of short listing these centres. Applications could be invited through advertisement in ISCoS Newsletter. The final decision could be taken by the ISCoS Executive.

Long-term (1 to 3 years)

  1. Same as in (1) above; possibility of involving representatives from as many countries as possible in the education committee through sub committees etc would be explored.
  2. Same as in (2) above
  3. Same as in (3) above
  4. Same as in (4) above except that ISCoS approved protocols of SCI management could be considered.
  5. Having a list of ISCoS approved / endorsed training centres may be considered.