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PAS Organizing Committee
to Meet in Buenos Aires
April 2010
Dear Colleagues,
Last year, we announced the formation of the The Movement Disorder Society’s Pan American Section (MDS-PAS). Based on the feedback from the members at the PAS General Assembly meeting in June 2009, we have begun to set up the overall framework for the Section.
The MDS-PAS has been modeled after the existing European and Asian-Oceanian Sections of MDS. The main goal of these Sections is to promote education in the field of Movement Disorders, and to provide a broader, more effective representation of its members by region. The regions represented by the MDS-PAS are: Canada, USA, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America.
MDS has identified the educational needs of the region as a high priority and it is our hope that the PAS will play a critical role in advancing the field of Movement Disorders in Latin America.
MDS-PAS had its first meeting at the Paris Congress in 2009. At this time, we began the process for creating the bylaws, policies and standard operating procedures for the Section based on those already established in the other sections. In early 2010, the Section officially formed the PAS Organizing Committee. To achieve a broad representation, the Organizing Committee is comprised of 20 neurologists from many countries within the Section. The primary function of this committee is to serve as the Pan American Section organizing body until a formal election is held in 2011. It will also appoint and organize an Education Committee to spearhead the Section’s educational efforts.
In March 2010, the PAS Organizing Committee held its first conference call. The PAS Organizing Committee will appoint a Nominating Chair and an Education Committee which will be announced at the PAS General Assembly at the 2010 Congress. The PAS elections will take place in June 2011 at the Toronto Congress in parallel with the MDS election process. The MDS-PAS Education Committee will serve the region (like the MDS-ES and MDS-AOS) and report to the MDS Education Committee and take full advantage of MDS opportunities such as the Visiting Professor and Ambassador Programs, the Supported meeting and Affiliate meeting grants, and the Regional Section Educational Fund.
The PAS Organizing Committee will hold a meeting in Buenos Aires to further discuss and approve the PAS Operating Procedures, select an Education Committee, and finalize the election timeline for the PAS Officers. In addition, there will be a PAS General Assembly meeting on Monday, June 14, 2010 at 1:30pm in Buenos Aires. All members of the PAS are encouraged to attend. We will be discussing all of the activities and educational programs that are available to the PAS from MDS International and focus on the primary goal of our section which is to advance the field of movement disorders in our region.
We are anxious to gain a better understanding of what the educational needs are in the Pan American region. The Organizing Committee has developed a PAS Educational Needs Survey that has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese. The survey will be sent to every MDS member in the region and will be handed out at all MDS- PAS supported meetings. The feedback from this survey will aid us in customizing educational programs and activities to fit the needs of the region.
Sincerely,
Jorge Juncos and Irene Litvan
on behalf of the MDS- PAS Organizing Committee
MDS Staff Liaison: Jenny Quebbeman
Organizing Committee Members
Fernando Alarcon, Ecuador
Tomoko Arakaki, Argentina
Vanderci Borges, Brazil
Pedro Chana Cuevas, Chile
Carlos Cosentino, Peru
Walter S. Diaz, Nicaragua
Guillermo Enriquez, Mexico
William Fernandez, Colombia
Emilia Mabel Gatto, Argentina
Oscar S. Gershanik, Argentina
Janeth Laguna, Bolivia
Anthony E. Lang, Canada
Marco T. Medina, Honduras
Marcello Merello, Argentina
Carlos Roberto De Mello Rieder, Brazil
Carmen Serrano-Ramos, Puerto Rico
Roberto J. Weiser, Venezuela