Dear SASS delegates.
Welcome to the 21st South African Spine Society Congress at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg from May 19 – 21.
On the back of a very successful meeting in 2021, when COVID threatened every aspect of our lives, we came together and not only had an excellent academic meeting but also had enriching collegial interactions, reuniting friends and colleagues. The SASS meeting was one of the very few meetings held in person during 2021. Your participation made it the success it was.
Now in 2022, with COVID slowly retreating from our lives, we invite you again for an in-person only meeting in Johannesburg. The executive committee has been hard at work creating an academic programme to hopefully enrich all of our practices in one way or the other. We are looking forward to the contributions from our international and local faculty and invite your opinion and participation during the sessions.
We have added registrar training sessions during the two lunchtime slots on days 1 and 2 to focus on fundamental cervical and lumbar procedures, decision making, and examinations. We hope to support our junior colleagues in this endeavour.
Throughout the meeting, we will conform to current Covid-19 prevention protocols. The Gala evening will again take the shape of a street-festival type event.
We trust that this meeting will be enjoyable with quality science and education and provide delegates with great opportunities to catch up with friends from across the country and the world. At the end of this Congress, I hope you all will leave with the fondest memories of Johannesburg.
See you soon.
Dr. Schalk Burger
SASS President