Happy New Year to all members, and a new year means a new change for the Chair of BSIN.

I am privileged to be taking over from Lindsay Gripton as Chair of BSIN and want to personally thank her for all her hard work over the last few years. Lindsay leaves an amazing legacy in the form of the BSIN website and our IONM education platform.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Michael Pridgeon, I have practiced in Neurophysiology for 23 years and worked in intraoperative neurophysiology for 17 years. I have been an autonomous practitioner in intraoperative monitoring for 8 years leading a team in functional and spinal intraoperative monitoring at the Walton Centre, Liverpool.

I have experience in both brain and spinal cord procedures which includes functional neurosurgery and neuromodulation and I have a passion to promote intra-operative neurophysiology education.

My academic background includes a degree in Anatomy & Human Biology, degree in Clinical Physiology (Neurophysiology), MSc Clinical Physiology (Neurophysiology), NVQ Level 4 in Management and I am currently studying on a Clinical Doctorate Program to become a Consultant Clinical Scientist specializing in evoked potentials and intra-operative neurophysiology. My research interests include QEEG, TMS and specialist evoked potentials to better understand their role in the clinical setting and within the intraoperative environment.

I am a current STP work based assessor and have been involved in teaching and training as an honorary lecturer for the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University for 16 years teaching on the PTP, STP and HSST programs. Over the last 5 years I have been responsible for the HSST intraoperative neurophysiology B4 unit.

My passion is training and education with a vision of creating a national training program in intra-operative neurophysiology and a national competency framework for professional certification.

As BSIN chair my vision is to develop and promote a national training program fully accessible to all our members, via our education hub creating a learning environment to support training and development. I am keen to incorporate simulation training into this environment and I am currently looking at simulation software which I hope to make available to all BSIN members through simulation workshops and other simulation opportunities, so please watch this space for future details.

My 2023 pledge to you all is to bring simulation training to BSIN and to help develop a valuable learning hub and virtual learning environment for our members.

Following on from the successful joint meeting with BSS (British Scoliosis Society) in Edinburgh I have been in talks with BSS about this year’s meeting. Currently this is planned for November 2023 in Liverpool and our joint aim for this meeting is to create a multidisciplinary environment for intra-operative neurophysiology. We will be planning more joint sessions with all professional groups represented at the meeting along with our own specific BSIN sessions. If you are interested in contributing or volunteering, please let me know at chairbsin@gmail.com.

I am also interested in exploring a mentorship/coaching scheme for our members to support members new and experienced within our field, if you are interested in exploring this further, please get in touch.

Finally, I am keen we further develop our network with all our stakeholders which include education providers, other clinical professionals, professional body organizations and private practitioners and manufacturers to help standardize national practice. I would like to create a culture where research, clinical practice and innovation can be shared within our group through journal clubs, case-based discussions, and questions and answers and I am keen to hear your views and ideas with regards to this.

Thanks,

Michael Pridgeon, CSci.

Clinical and Chartered Scientist

BSIN Chair

chairbsin@gmail.com

www.bsin.org.uk

Check out the jobs page for info about an exciting new opportunity at the Platinum Medical Centre (part of The Wellington Hospital). 

https://hcacareers.co.uk/job/0029956/

Join this years London Neuromonitoring & Mapping Course from 25th – 26th of November 2022.

The London Neuromonitoring and Mapping International Course is a two-day course. It provides the attendees with a unique approach whereby both the neurophysiologist and the neurosurgeon deliver the teaching side-by-side giving a realistic environment and extensive knowledge into the daily workings of the operating theatre.

The course is designed for any professional working with patients having operations using neurophysiological monitoring. The course provides lectures explaining the basics of intraoperative neuromonitoring, and progresses to interactive case discussions.

Register here >>

With best regards,
inomed Neurocare Limited

For those of you attending the meeting in Edinburgh this week, download the BSS Event app by installing CrowdCompass Events app from your app store. Search for BSS 2022. Download and enter the event code BSS2022 to gain access. This will allow you to access the programme, maps, event info etc. 

Complimentary WiFi is available at the venue. The network is shown as Surgeons Quarter and the password is Since1505.

See you very soon! 

Darren Martin-Lamb is not just a highly experienced Healthcare Scientist and a wise and valued member of our BSIN committee, nay nay, he also holds a senior role in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion team at Birmingham Women's and Children's.  Their LGBTQ+ Network just won a BWC Spirit award for Commitment to Diversity and we'd like to send our warmest congratulations to him and his team! 

Hi BSIN community!

I will soon be attempting to ride 100 miles to raise money for both Nottingham Hospitals Charity, and Scoliosis Association UK. If you would like to sponsor me and make a donation please follow the links to the JustGiving pages for each charity below:

Josh Wiggett is fundraising for Scoliosis Association UK (justgiving.com)

Josh Wiggett is fundraising for Nottingham University Hospitals Charity (justgiving.com)

These are both fantastic charities and your donations will help to support our patients. Thank you for your generosity and please feel free to forward this on to anyone else who you feel might like to make a donation.

Thanks again,

Josh

Joshua Wiggett

Specialist Neurophysiological Scientist (Intraoperative Monitoring Lead)

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Be sure to sign up soon to take advantage of discounted rates. 

Check out the latest draft of our programme for our upcoming Annual Scientific Meeting on 3rd and 4th November in Edinburgh. It's packed full of interesting talks from experts in our field (mostly live and some virtual) and we're trying out some simulation training. More details on the events page. We really hope you can join us! 

Date: 22th-23th September 2022

Location: Online & University Hospital of Heidelberg, Germany

Format: Hybrid (Online and Face-to-face course) / Digital learning material (availability up to 6 months after event date)

Level: Beginners and advanced learners

Language: English

Director: Dr. med. Stefan Hemmer

Certification: Baden-Württemberg Medical Association

Registration deadline: TBC

2022_09_Spine_Flyer.pdf

IONM_Spine_Voucher_10.pdf

King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has opened the first IONM post CCT training fellowship in the UK. The IOMM team at King’s is very excited about this and welcomed their first of 2 Fellows, Dr. Alba Díaz Baamonde today. Dr Ana Mirallave Pescador says "We intend to keep this program running for the years to come and are very excited about its implementation". Congratulations from all of us here at BSIN - this is a real step forward.