Congress review by Per Kjaersgard-Andersen
12th EFORT Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark June 1-4,
2011
As Chairman of the 12th EFORT Congress,
it is with great pleasure and satisfaction that I think
and look back to the recent congress in Copenhagen. 6,500
participants from over 90 nations around the world made
this Congress another impressive demonstration of the
scientific and educational power within the European
orthopaedic faculty in EFORT. We received much positive,
on-site feedback from participants from across Europe.
Our collaboration with the industry also makes annual
progress, and this year in Copenhagen was well attended
by the both industry and high-profile visitors to the
exhibition area. The congress centre (Bella Centre) showed
both the expertise and professionalism to handle an international
congress with such huge numbers of participants.
More new sessions were implemented during the four-day
congress. Most impressive were the Honorary lectures
Erwin Morscher and Michael Freeman. Both were highlighted
in the programme, and were well attended in the large
main auditorium. The new Difficult Case presentations,
with a discussion of 4-5 difficult cases within specialist
fields, also attracted enormous attention. All five sessions
were crowded, and this shows us that orthopaedic surgeons
love to see and discuss the latest developments in our
practice. A full-day nurse’s session was also organized
in Copenhagen. More than 200 nurses registered, and the
feedback is promising.
Copenhagen showed us the sunny side of Denmark for all
four days, as temperatures rose. This made the evenings
in downtown Copenhagen very attractive, with the harbour
front and Nyhavn the main gathering points. The main
social event of the Congress took place in the newly-built
Opera House. More than 800 congress participants and
their partners enjoyed an extraordinary stage performance
from the Danish Royal Opera and Theatre, and a wonderful
dinner in the atrium overlooking downtown Copenhagen
at sunset.
These are the things of which life-long memories are
made. It added a whole new dimension to the famous song
by Danny Kaye “Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen”.
Per Kjaersgaard-Andersen, Ass. Professor
Chairman 12th EFORT Congress in Copenhagen