Symposium

[Guest guest]

I've been to two symposiums (I missed the one in fall of 2000 when

there was actually a dinner for Dr. P with the parents present when

the first quilt and scrapbook was presented) and was pregnant at

both! It tends to be set up a little different each time. For

families, you are either invited to attend by Joyce (Dr. P's

secretary) or you can volunteer to Joyce and they may ask you to

come. They select a certain number of kids to participate at

different stages/ages for training purposes.

At the symposium in the fall of 2002, they had the kids and parents

line up and Dr. Ponseti examined each child in turn in the front of

the auditorium where all the doctors were sitting in the chairs

(taking pictures and asking questions). This proved to be

intimidating for quite a few of the kids. It's harder to get them to

walk when there's a large audience like that. It wasn't an issue for

my extrovert daughter though....she likes to " perform " for Papa

Ponseti.

At the symposium last fall, they had us all wait in the waiting area

while the lectures were going on, and then they took us back to

individual examination rooms and the doctors came around in small

groups. They examined the child's foot/feet and asked the parents

questions. There were a few children that they also asked to come in

for discussion in front of the auditorium, but not all the kids.

This was all on Saturday for the kids who were fully corrected. They

also do hands on treatment on Friday for those babies who are

undergoing casting/tenotomy etc. procedures.

I don't know what their honest opinion is about parents sitting in on

the lectures. I don't think they care- as long as there are no kids

there. So if both mom and dad are at the symposium, one can stay with

the kid(s) while the other listens to the discussions. If you were

interested in doing this, I would just recommend that you ask Joyce

about it first.

Last year's symposium was kind of a fiasco because the lectures ran

over, so we were all cooped up in the waiting area with hyper and/or

cranky kids for quite a while (hours). They brought us lunch

(sandwiches) and finally called us back to the exam rooms......where

we sat for a while once again (it was better in the open area waiting

room compared to trying to keep them entertained in the exam rooms,

even though they did have toys for them to play with). This year, I

think Joyce insinuated that they were going to set up specific times

for each child to be examined- like a regular appointment.

We usually get together as a group (families) for dinner at a local

restaurant on Friday and/or Saturday evening. After the symposium on

Saturday last year, we presented the foot print quilt to Dr. P, then

they invited all the children over to the indoor training facility and

had them run " races " on the track. In order to generate some

publicity, they'd invited the local news media to film/interview for

the event and there was a brief clip on the local news that night as

well as a story in the local newspaper on Sunday morning.

If anyone has any specific questions about past events, feel free to

email me. I have pictures of the symposium from last year posted on

my yahoo album ( T's pictures in the links area will take you

there). Otherwise, you can ask Joyce for details about this year's

event from a parent's perspective.

Yes, the sole purpose for the event is for training doctors.....but we

do have a good time being able to have the opportunity to socialize in

person with the families that we've met through this board and letting

the kids run around and play together.

Hope this helps!

& (3-16-00, left clubfoot)

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for the info, please disregard my other post asking for this

information. I guess I should finish reading before I ask!

Thanks!

> I've been to two symposiums (I missed the one in fall of 2000 when

> there was actually a dinner for Dr. P with the parents present when

> the first quilt and scrapbook was presented) and was pregnant at

> both! It tends to be set up a little different each time. For

> families, you are either invited to attend by Joyce (Dr. P's

> secretary) or you can volunteer to Joyce and they may ask you to

> come. They select a certain number of kids to participate at

> different stages/ages for training purposes.

> At the symposium in the fall of 2002, they had the kids and parents

> line up and Dr. Ponseti examined each child in turn in the front of

> the auditorium where all the doctors were sitting in the chairs

> (taking pictures and asking questions). This proved to be

> intimidating for quite a few of the kids. It's harder to get them to

> walk when there's a large audience like that. It wasn't an issue for

> my extrovert daughter though....she likes to " perform " for Papa

> Ponseti.

> At the symposium last fall, they had us all wait in the waiting area

> while the lectures were going on, and then they took us back to

> individual examination rooms and the doctors came around in small

> groups. They examined the child's foot/feet and asked the parents

> questions. There were a few children that they also asked to come in

> for discussion in front of the auditorium, but not all the kids.

> This was all on Saturday for the kids who were fully corrected. They

> also do hands on treatment on Friday for those babies who are

> undergoing casting/tenotomy etc. procedures.

> I don't know what their honest opinion is about parents sitting in on

> the lectures. I don't think they care- as long as there are no kids

> there. So if both mom and dad are at the symposium, one can stay with

> the kid(s) while the other listens to the discussions. If you were

> interested in doing this, I would just recommend that you ask Joyce

> about it first.

> Last year's symposium was kind of a fiasco because the lectures ran

> over, so we were all cooped up in the waiting area with hyper and/or

> cranky kids for quite a while (hours). They brought us lunch

> (sandwiches) and finally called us back to the exam rooms......where

> we sat for a while once again (it was better in the open area waiting

> room compared to trying to keep them entertained in the exam rooms,

> even though they did have toys for them to play with). This year, I

> think Joyce insinuated that they were going to set up specific times

> for each child to be examined- like a regular appointment.

> We usually get together as a group (families) for dinner at a local

> restaurant on Friday and/or Saturday evening. After the symposium on

> Saturday last year, we presented the foot print quilt to Dr. P, then

> they invited all the children over to the indoor training facility and

> had them run " races " on the track. In order to generate some

> publicity, they'd invited the local news media to film/interview for

> the event and there was a brief clip on the local news that night as

> well as a story in the local newspaper on Sunday morning.

> If anyone has any specific questions about past events, feel free to

> email me. I have pictures of the symposium from last year posted on

> my yahoo album ( T's pictures in the links area will take you

> there). Otherwise, you can ask Joyce for details about this year's

> event from a parent's perspective.

> Yes, the sole purpose for the event is for training doctors.....but we

> do have a good time being able to have the opportunity to socialize in

> person with the families that we've met through this board and letting

> the kids run around and play together.

> Hope this helps!

> & (3-16-00, left clubfoot)