ISPO Canada Member News- Fall 2021

Welcome to the ISPO Canada Member News

As an ISPO Canada Member, we would like to stay in touch with you! In this issue, you will find an introduction to our new board members, information about the upcoming World Congress and links to our social media. We welcome your feedback on the Member News, and look forward to being in touch!

If you'd like to get in touch, please use our new contact email: info@ispocanada.ca

Welcome ISPO Canada’s New President

ISPO Canada has a new President! William (Bill) Miller is a professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy at the University of British Columbia.

Bill is looking forward to a productive 2-year term and envisions the entire ISPO Canada board working hard to implement our new strategic plan. The Strategic Plan will target 3 areas:

Increase the size and diversity of our membership base
Expand our education and knowledge translation offerings
Collaborate with partner organisations to increase our reach

These three target priorities will be lead by different members of the board who welcome support from the ISPO Canada membership. Please get in touch with us at info@ispocanada.ca if you are interested or able to help implement our plan.

We wish the entire membership a healthy, happy, safe and restful holiday and look forward to coming back fully recharged in 2022!

Welcome to our New Board Members!

We are very excited to welcome our new board members! Click the link below to learn about each of our board members and their roles with ISPO Canada.

Our Board Members

Annual Membership Renewal

It's time to renew your membership! Membership comes with a host of benefits:

Be part of a community which makes contributions to the development of rehabilitation, mobility and assistive devices, Nationally and Internationally
Be an active member in the development of ISPO initiatives by joining committees or working groups
Free subscription to Prosthetics and Orthotics International (POI), a leading international scientific publication in the field of prosthetics and orthotics
Reduced registration fees at ISPO World Congress, workshops, and professional activities from ISPO International
Reduced registration fees at the ISPO Canada Symposium
ISPO bi-monthly newsletter and regular ISPO Canada Member News
Access to ISPO members-only portal, including online access to POI, recordings of sessions from ISPO events, connection to the member directory

Check out our website to learn more about becoming a member!

Renew your ISPO Canada Membership Today!

ISPO/OAPO AGM and Education Day

The ISPO/OAPO combined AGM and Education Day was held on Saturday, October 23^rd. By all accounts this virtual event was a success.

Speakers, both technical and clinical, were excellent and well received by attendees. We would like to thank Mary Catherine Thiessen, Shane Morton, Steve Wall, Dr. Stefania Fatone, Dr. Crystal Mackay, Megan Wojnicki, Kyla Lau, Kevin Martyn and Dr. Susan hunter for their presentations.

If you would like to review the presentations you can access them until the end of 2021 on the ISPO Canada website.

Thanks also to Ottobock, our primary sponsor of the event, and Vittoria Phoenix, our sponsor of the keynote speakers. We would also like to thank Facilitation First for their behind the scenes work to make the virtual event flow seamlessly.

Watch the presentations here!

2022 PAC Symposium

The Pedorthic Association of Canada (PAC) is hosting its 2022 Symposium in Winnipeg, MB at the RBC Convention Centre from April 8-9. More than 250 Pedorthists, Podiatrists, Chiropodist, Orthotists and others concerned with the field of pedorthics are expected to attend North America’s largest Pedorthic event.

The goal of this year’s Symposium is to broaden attendee’s understanding of chronic pain. More information on the 2022 PAC Symposium will be available here as it becomes available.

Event details here!

Member profile highlight!

In each newsletter we would like to start highlighting long standing ISPO members. In this edition, we would like to highlight Arezoo Eshraghi!

Meet Arezoo Eshraghi and hear her ISPO memories!

Arezoo is a Certified Prosthetist and researcher at West Park Healthcare Centre in Toronto, ON. Her greatest joy is being challenged every day by her clients and trying to find ways to
bring smile on their faces. "I always say our profession is truly rewarding. It is wonderful
how we work as a team with other professionals to ensure our clients achieve their daily
mobility goals."

Arezoo has been a member of ISPO international for the last two decades and has been volunteering at the Scientific Committee since 2017. She enjoys connecting with P&O professionals globally. In the past, she collaborated with various P&O manufacturers and research groups for her PhD and postdoc fellowship to develop new techniques and components for amputee rehabilitation. By joining the ISPO Canada, she will bring her background as a clinician, educator and researcher to promote ISPO mission among fellow professionals in Canada.

"I believe ISPO has provided grounds for engaging various professionals, end users,
industry, scholars, and governments to build a better world together."

Outside of her professional life, Arezoo enjoys travelling to meet new people and places. She lives a healthy life by walking and jogging few times a week.

Her best advice to new graduates is: "Learning is an ongoing process in P&O profession. As students, you may not see all conditions and types of assistive devices, so when you start as a fresh P&O clinician, be
open to exploring new techniques, take risks and don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Qualifications will get you to the interview but experience and passion will get you further. Our clients rely on us as professionals so our job is to listen to them and keep ourselves up-to-date to provide quality care. Embrace every opportunity to volunteer in P&O communities to connect with other professionals and assistive device users."

To read more about Arezoo's story, click below!