Ferrara, Italy - 2008

Minutes of the General Assembly of IAPA on 19th Septmebt 2008 at the Sala San Francesco, Ferrara, Italy (during the XIV International IAPA Symposium)

  • Present: Linda Luxon (President), Konrad Konradsson (Honorary Secretary) and 26 members of the Association.
  1. Apologies for absence: Elina Mäki-Torkko, Mariola Sliwinska-Kowalska, Lionel Collet, Manfred Gross
  2. Minutes of the meeting held in Mexico City 19th March 2006 were approved
  3. Matters arising
    • The Executive Committee - The question of the election of Officers was discussed. The Executive Committee (EC) proposed more limited terms for the Officers in order to encourage new and younger members to put themselves forward for election to the EC.The proposals will be posted on the Association’s website and members will have the opportunity to vote on them either electronically or in person at the 2010 General assembly in Krakow.
    • The journal Audiological Medicine - The efforts of the Editors and Informa to obtain Medline recognition of the Journal had been unsuccessful at the first attempt. The Editorial board intends to address the criticisms received and to apply again in 2 years.
    • Membership subscriptions - Members argued strongly from the floor that it was vital to be able to pay membership subscriptions by Credit Card. This is apparently difficult to arrange in Sweden, where the Current Treasurer is based and the EC is urgently considering ways of addressing this matter.
  4. EC Report
    1. Meetings of the EC
      These have been held as follows:
      London, UK, December 2006
      Lund, Sweden, May 2007
      London, UK, January 2008
      Ferrara, Italy, September 2008
    2. Meetings with the UEP (The European Union of Phoniatricians):Meetings with the Phoniatricians, represented by the UEP had been held in Berlin, Germany in February 2007 and May 2008. The ECs of both organisations (IAPA and UEP) have ratified a Letter of Intent on Co-operation between the two organisations to move towards wider recognition of the Specialties.The key points of this are as follows:
      Both organizations intend to support each other.
      Therefore they propose to:

      • invite all members of both Associations to their conferences
      • introduce a link between the homepages of the two organisations
      • inform each other about research projects which might be performed together
      • accept the Journal “Audiological Medicine” as the key Journal for members of both organisations
      • propose the subscription to Audiological Medicine be part of the membership arrangements of both Associations
      • request their members to support the activities of both organizations in research, education and health care
      • Send one delegate to the board meetings of each other
      • This delegate is invited to take part in the board meetings at her/his own expense and without the right to vote
      • She/He will be accepted as a consultative guest and authorized representative of the other organization.

    This Letter of Intent was supported by the General assembly.

    1. UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialties)
      Meetings had been held within the context of the ENT Section of UEMS, which favoured a 2-year training programme in Audiological Medicine as a subspecialty of ENT. This was considered to be completely unacceptable and Katherine Harrop-Griffiths and Ewa Raglan had produced a Curriculum based on the UK Curriculum. A further meeting on this topic will be held in Tromsø in October 2008.
    2. Core Cirriculum
      This has been developed as a result of meetings between representatives of the European and worldwide Associations of Audiological physicians. It will be presented by Linda Luxon and Katherine Harrop-Griffiths at the October meeting of the ENT-UEMS in Tromsø, Norway. Subsequently, it will be posted on the IAPA website.
    3. Future Symposia
      1. The 2010 Symposium:The 2010 Symposium will be held in Krakow, Poland September 26th-29th and will be organised by Mariola Sliwinska-Kowalska. This will be an anniversary symposium since there will be 30 years since IAPA was founded – in Krakow.The themes for the Round Tables are as follows (Conference organiser and Executive Committee):
        1. Advances in implantation in audiovestibular medicine
        2. Diagnosis and early auditory rehabilitation of hearing-impaired children

        Various topics were proposed at the General Assembly. The one attracting the most support was:

        - Audiovestibular manifestations of systemic diseases

      2. 2012 SymposiumIt was agreed that this be held in Vellore, India at the invitation of Achamma Balraj
    4. Summer SchoolsThe first was held in Copenhagen in 2006, organised by Konrad Konradssson The second was held in Berlin 2008, organised by Manfred Gross.The EC proposed the following in the future:
      2009 – Alexandria or Cairo (Mohamed Hamid)
      2010 – Beijing (Qi Jing)
      2011 – Cleveland, USA (Mohamed Hamid)

      In general discussion from members it was suggested:

      1. That these be held at the same season every year
      2. That they might take the form of workshops
      3. That feedback analysis was needed from attendees to ensure that they were meeting the needs of the membership.
  5. Financial ReportIn the absence of the Treasurer, Bo Walter (Auditor presented the Financial report on her behalf.It showed:

    Current balance € 33 419

    • Income
      • Membership fees (195 x 50 € = 9750 €)
      • Audiological Medicine (3445 €)
    • Major expenditure still to come in 2008
      • Website update
        • 60% = € 2953 (€ 1266 Euros already paid)
      • Informa (Audiological Medicine)
        • Ca. € 13 000
      • Travel expenses
        • EC decision is to cover max € 300 /meeting

    In view of the relatively healthy balance, it was agreed to maintain the membership subscription at its present level (€50 per annum).

  6. Any other business
    1. MembershipMembership had fallen over the past 2 years, partly because of the Swedish Association’s decision not to affiliate all members, and partly because of the lack of Credit Card payment facilities. The importance of remedying this was emphasised.
    2. WebsiteIs now beeing upgraded and reorganised. It is important that the membership actively participates in the development of the website. It will have:
      • 3 monthly upgrades
      • 3 monthly President’s newsletter
      • Requests for nomincations for officers

    PLEASE CHECK MONTHLY - http://www.iapa-online.org

  7. The next General AssemblyThe next General Assembly will be held in Krakow in September 2010 during the 15th Symposium

Dafydd Stephens, Co-opted member of the EC
Konrad S. Konradsson, IAPA Honorary Secretary