What are Travelling Fellowships?
Travelling Fellowships are an exchange programme that provides a unique opportunity for young paediatric orthopaedic surgeons to gain international exposure, exchange knowledge, and boost their professional profile. Organised in collaboration with the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) and the Sociedad Latinoamericana de Ortopedia y Traumatología Infantil (SLAOTI), Travelling Fellowships support the wider mission of EPOS to increase the quality of care for children with orthopaedic conditions.
Every year, EPOS hosts three colleagues from either POSNA or SLAOTI for a two-week Travelling Fellowship, which culminates at the EPOS Annual Meeting in April. Fellows typically visit institutions in three different countries, with one of the countries being the host country of the EPOS Annual Meeting.
What does hosting Travelling Fellows involve?
Travelling Fellowships are intended to provide our SLAOTI and POSNA colleagues with a valuable professional and cultural experience in Europe. Host institutions should therefore be able to dedicate sufficient time and manpower to organise a meaningful programme for the three fellows, which may include clinical observation, participation in departmental activities, case discussions, teaching sessions and other educational opportunities.
Host institutions are also expected to have the financial capacity to cover or arrange support for:
- A social programme
- Ideally, airport/train station transfers
Travel costs from South America / North America to Europe and travel between the European host centres will be covered by SLAOTI/POSNA.
Accommodation costs will be covered by EPOS, unless the host institutions are able to offer alternative accommodation arrangements, for example through industry sponsorship or other local support.
Interested in hosting Travelling Fellows at your institution?
If your institution would be interested in welcoming SLAOTI or POSNA fellows, please contact us at fellowships@epos.org, providing:
- Name and location of the institution
- Name, title and contact details of the responsible local host
- A brief description of the proposed host programme
- Preferred duration of the fellows' stay
- Confirmation of your institution's ability to organise and financially support the stay
The final fellowship itinerary and exact dates will be coordinated between EPOS, SLAOTI and the selected host institutions. We very much hope that our community will embrace this opportunity to welcome our SLAOTI and POSNA colleagues, exchange knowledge and experience, and strengthen the ties between our societies.
We look forward to hearing from interested host centres!