Invitation to sponsor

We are writing to invite you to sponsor the Epilepsy Society of Australia Clinical Epilepsy Course (28th February) and Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists EEG Course (1st and 2nd March) to be held in Melbourne in 2025. 

The EEG Course has been held in various cities but mostly Sydney and Melbourne, since 1999 and is a hands-on, small group, interactive course, where each 90 minute session begins with a 30 min lecture, followed by a small group tutorial where individual EEG samples are discussed under the supervision of an experienced tutor. Tutors are provided with a guide advising them of the points to emphasise with each EEG example. This requires a large faculty who come from Australia and New Zealand. It is compulsory for Neurology trainees from Australia and New Zealand to attend the course at least once. Depending on finances, we (ESA and ANZAN) also sponsor up to 10 neurology trainees from the Asian Oceanian region.

The Epilepsy Course was held initially biennially but for quite a few years has been an annual event.  It consists of 7 sessions, each of which begins with a 5 minute case presentation, then the audience breaks up into small groups to discuss the case under the supervision of a tutor, followed by further discussion by the whole audience led by the Chair, then a 10 minute didactic summary of the main points by the presenter. The tutors are provided with a Discussion Guide, that lists the points to discuss, to ensure the discussion is consistent across groups. Topics are clinical and aimed at practising neurologists rather than epileptologists and in-patient and out-patient themes alternate annually. Both courses have consistently received positive feedback over the years.

The organising committee would like to provide the opportunity for tiered sponsorship of this meeting and will provide the opportunity for one Platinum sponsor, Gold sponsors and Silver sponsors. The details of the sponsorship tiers are included here. The sponsorship will contribute to paying for the running costs of the Courses, including modest honoraria.  This combined event is unique in gathering most of the key opinion leaders in epilepsy from around Australia and New Zealand and the neurologists of the future, in one place.

The Courses are an important educational activity and opportunity for networking in our community.  We would be grateful if you would consider this request to provide support.

Ernest Somerville, Nicholas Lawn, Andrew Bleasel, John Dunne, Josephine Chan, Hanka Laue-Gizzi

Course Convenors