PAMA News/Events

PAMA has several opportunities available for you and/or your business to advertise directly to the performing arts community. The PAMA symposium is a great way to get your message to a targeted audience. You may purchase advertising space in the syllabus book or purchase an exhibit table. Get your message out to a concentrated target audience of symposium attendees that include medical professionals, clinicians, researchers, artists, educators, and administrators. The deadline for advertisements is June 21, 2013.

Pricing:

For more information, to receive the advertising style guide, or to purchase or reserve your advertising space for the 2013 symposium, please contact Dorry Allen at services@artsmed.org.

This years planning committee is pleased to announce that we have been approved for 21.5 CME credits for the full conference and including the pre-conference workshop.

Pre-Conference Workshop
Friday, July 19, 2013
The Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine - a course designed to give participants a solid base of understanding about how to evaluate health issues among performing artists of all kinds. This course is a full day experience and will provide 6.5 CME credits. For more information see the PAMA website pre-conference workshop page. You will be able to register for this workshop when you register for the symposium.

PAMA Salons
Sunday, July 21, 6:30-9:00 pm
Be sure to sign up and participate in our salon offerings this year. Sunday evening we will conduct 4 different salons focused on 4 topics of interest and hosted by experts in that area. These salons will take place in a local area restaurant - a separate registration fee is required and includes dinner and great networking, information exchange and conversation. Choose which one you would like to participate in when you register for the symposium. Click here to read more about the PAMA salons.

Membership in PAMA provides you with many benefits such as a subscription to the peer-reviewed journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists, listing in our database for referrals or resources, discounted fee at the Annual Symposium, and plenty of networking opportunities throughout the year. PAMA membership runs on a calendar year, so enroll now to receive the most from your benefits.

From his roots in Oakville Ontario Canada, piano lessons began at age 3 and helped him advance to study at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto with Clifford Poole on scholarship. After an injury to his right hand from over practicing the Wanderer Fantasy when he was 14, he went on to study electronic music and composition with Samuel Dolin. He performed at Massey Hall and completed the ARCT in Piano Performance at age 17. His prize winning composition Continuum was performed by the Toronto Symphony the same year. With the intention of a career in electronic music he went on to graduate in electrical engineering at the University of Toronto while working as a summer student at the National Research Council at the Electronic Music Laboratory with Hugh LeCaine in Ottawa.

His interests shifted to study in the fields of medicine, clinical epidemiology and biostatistics, occupational health, public health and preventive medicine, acupuncture, and psychotherapy at McMaster University. He was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences tenured in 1990. As the Medical Director of the Musicians’ Clinics of Canada, he has treated musicians with repetitive strain injuries, motor control problems, anxiety, depression, neuropathic pain, nerve entrapments, and stress-related disorders since 1986.

His current clinical and research interest is regulation of the autonomic nervous system using neuro-biofeedback techniques for the prevention of repetitive strain injuries, focal dystonia, chronic pain, and depression. He teaches Performance Awareness at the Glenn Gould School Performance and Artist Diploma Programs at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. He is the medical consultant for the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and has received the Governor General Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

As a member of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Summer Music Festival, he has introduced injury prevention concepts to the gifted participants of the Academy. He has been a guest lecturer at the Universities of Toronto, Ottawa, Wilfred Laurier, and Santiago Chile. He is a Research Associate of the Music and Health Research Collaboratory at the University of Toronto. He was a founding member and now is the President of the Performing Arts Medicine Association leading the transformation “PAMAForte! – Rewriting the future of PAMA”.

Feel free to contact John regarding PAMA, the future or any ideas you have with regards to advancing performing arts medicine.

Musicians’ Clinics of Canada
565 Sanatorium Road, Suite 201
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L9C 7N4
Office: (905)-574-5444 Fax: (905)-574-1119
E-mail: john.chong@sympatico.ca

Join us for the 2013 Toronto Regional Meeting "When the Artists' Body Says No". View the brochure to see the lineup of incredible speakers for this meeting. Register now, don't miss out!

Register for this meeting

PAMA Regional Meetings are a great way to connect with other PAM professionals in your area. Watch PAMA Notes for notice of future regional meeting events.

We are so pleased to announce that our Lederman Lecture for the 2013 PAMA Symposium will be delivered by Dr. Isabelle Peretz, a prominent cognitive neuropsychologist and a professor of Psychology at the University of Montreal. Born and educated in Brussels, Belgium, she earned her Ph.D. in experimental psychology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles under José Morais in 1984. Shortly thereafter she took on a faculty position at Université de Montréal where she has remained ever since. Dr. Peretz’s focuses on the musical potential of ordinary people, its neural correlates, its heritability and its specificity relative to language. She has published over 150 scientific papers on a variety of topics, from perception, memory, and emotions to performance (for her publications see www.brams.umontreal.ca/plab). She is renowned for her work on congenital and acquired musical disorders (amusia) and on the biological foundations of music processing in general. Dr. Peretz’s research has received continued support from the Canadian Natural Science and Engineering Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research since 1986.

In 2004, The Université de Montréal bestowed upon her an endowed Casavant chair in neurocognition of music and in 2007, and a Canada Research Chair in neurocognition of music. In 2005, Dr. Peretz became the founding co-director of the international laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound research (BRAMS), a unique multi-university consortium that is jointly affiliated to McGill University and Université de Montréal (http://www.brams.org/), with state-of-the art facilities dedicated to the cognitive neuroscience of music. In 2009, she was awarded Prix Justine & Yves Sergent, as well as Prix ACFAS Jacques Rousseau. Dr. Peretz is the founding Editor-in-chief of the new open-access Frontiers of Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the American Psychological Association. We are thrilled to have Dr. Peretz as our Richard Lederman Distinguished Lecturer this year and hope you all will come hear her present her work and discoveries in Snowmass/Aspen this summer.

Nancy Kadel, MD is an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Group Health Physicians in Seattle Washington. Dr. Kadel has a special interest in Dance Medicine, and Foot and Ankle Reconstruction. She is the Clinical Director of the Seattle Dance Medicine Free Clinic, Co-Chair of the Dance/USA Task Force on Dancer Health and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Dance/USA, the service organization for professional dance in the United States. She is this year’s President-Elect of PAMA, and a board member of IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science). Dr. Kadel was previously an Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of California San Francisco and the University of Washington.

Her research interests include foot and ankle biomechanics, dance injuries and their prevention, and injury rehabilitation. She has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications on dance injuries, foot and ankle and biomechanics. She has lectured internationally on her research as well as on Dance medicine topics.

Dr. Kadel is a board-certified orthopaedic surgeon, a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and of the American Foot and Ankle Society. She received her bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and her medical degree from the University of Washington. After completing two years in general surgery at Mount Sinai Hospital, she completed a residency in orthopaedic surgery in the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency program. Dr. Kadel completed a chief residency at Beth Israel Hospital, and a fellowship in foot and ankle reconstruction at the New England Baptist Hospital.

Nancy Kadel was a former modern dancer before medical school, and she has taught ballet and modern dance classes for years and will take on the role of President of PAMA at the end of Dr Chong’s term in 2014 at that year’s Annual Symposium.

Toward the end of 2012, our new President John Chong spent some of his time and his resources to visit some of the other top PAM organizations in the world to represent PAMA and the North American PAM practitioners. Here is his report out on his travels.

First stop "Musicians Health 2012 - Keeping the show on the road" was Ireland's first International Conference of Performing Arts Medicine held Saturday October 13th, 2012 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Galway, Ireland. The organizing committee lead by Ronan Kavanagh and team Juliet Bressan, Pat Harold and Sean Smyth created an exciting multifaceted program very well attended and received by registrants of many health care disciplines. The complete program can be seen on Vimeo website and includes the full spectrum of health problems that musicians face while performing from the perspective of maintaining the ability to perform safely and optimally. And as only the Irish can do there was a great feast and followed by fabulous participant performances accompanied by Guinness and good cheer. And we can't wait for the next PAMI conference. All must come!

Next stop on the other and underside of the planet was the Australian Society for Performing Arts Health Care Conference "Holistic Healthcare for Performing Artists" held the 1st and 2nd of December 2012 at the University of Sydney. The conference chair David Peterson along with ASPAH President Bronwen Ackermann, Mark Seton and the energetic next generation Clifton Chan, Samantha Warhurst, Alison Evans and Kaja Quinn organized a lively program of submitted abstracts from the excellent research that has been ongoing in the Land Down Under. It was warm and sunny to illuminate the bright young researchers presenting their hard work which will lay the foundation for evidence-based best practices in Performing Arts Medicine of the future. ASPAH hosted us for a scrumptious dinner accompanied by the best Australian vintages available. Following on day two, the “round the world panel” by internet was a first and sets a precedent for future international meetings.

Now that the holiday season is over PAMAForte! goes into high gear in 2013. Starting in Havana Cuba and then Toronto Canada rich and varied programs will not only introduce those interested in the health and wellness of performing artists but also will build long lasting collegial relationships in this emerging and growing field. So what are you waiting for? Register, book your travel and accommodation, and contribute to the future of PAMA. More awesome possibilities will happen in 2013 especially at the 31st Annual Symposium in Snowmass July 20-23. See you all there!

Dorry and David Allen announce the birth of their twins. Gabriel and Maya were born on November 20, 2012. The happy and healthy family are catching up on work and looking forward to more sleep-filled nights.

The 31st Annual PAMA Symposium on Medical Problems of Performing Artists will be held July 20-23, 2013 in Snowmass Colorado at the Viceroy Resort & Hotel.

Abstracts may be submitted to PAMA for review by the Symposium Program Committee. PAMA has created a new abstract submission system to make submitting abstracts easier and more uniform. You must first review the guidelines (click to view guidelines), you will then click the button "Submit Your Abstract" at the bottom of the guidelines page to open the abstract submission form. Please complete the form completely and attach your abstract document before clicking the submit button.

Ensure your submission follows the abstract guidelines. To view the guidelines click here. All professionals and students are encouraged to submit an abstract. Submissions are not restricted to PAMA members. You will be notified of acceptance by January 31, 2013.

Abstracts are due December 10, 2012.

There are two annual awards available to students and young professionals. Check the PAMA website to learn about these opportunities:

PAMA members are encouraged to review the guidelines and share this information with eligible young people who seek to make PAM a part of their career.

Book your calendars now – you will not want to miss this next year’s Symposium in Snowmass, CO. The conference focus or theme will be “Maximizing Performance” and will feature two well renowned experts in the field of sports medicine and exercise with professional performance experience.

Dr. Kristin Wingfield is a primary care sports medicine specialist, board certified through the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine and fellowship trained at Stanford University. She currently practices at Post Street Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in San Francisco and Corte Madera, California.

Dr. Wingfield is a team physician for the Peanut Butter Twenty Twelve Women’s Professional Cycling Team and Dominican University in San Rafael, CA. She also cares for the dancers of the San Francisco Ballet School and the acrobats of Cirque du Soleil on tour in San Francisco. She has traveled extensively as a team physician with the Canadian Alpine Ski team, Canadian Women’s Basketball team and served a team physician for the Canadian team to the 2003 World Aquatic Championships. At the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, she worked in the medical clinic in Whistler, BC, providing care to all competing athletes.

An athlete and professional performer herself, Dr Wingfield competed internationally on the Canadian gymnastics team for 5 years, then at a national level in springboard diving. She worked as an acrobat in Cirque du Soleil’s “Mystere” full time for 2 years and then part time throughout medical school and residency training. She stopped performing when she began practicing sports medicine in 2004.

We are also proud to welcome Timothy Lightfoot, Ph.D., FACSM, Director, Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine & Human Performance, Dept. of Health & Kinesiology, Texas A&M University.

Dr. Lightfoot received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from Northeast Louisiana University and his doctorate from the University of Tennessee. He then completed a research consultantship with NASA at Kennedy Space Center in the Biomedical Laboratory and then a three year National Institute of Health postdoctoral research fellowship in the Division of Physiology at Johns Hopkins University. He was an Assistant and Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University for 6 years, and a Professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte for 14 years, 11years of which he was Chair of the department. Dr. Lightfoot has published over 50 scientific, peer-reviewed articles on the genetics of daily physical activity and exercise endurance, as well as the physiological response to high-G exposure and hemorrhage and is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on the genetics of physical activity. His lab also has an unique interest in the physiological responses of motorsports athletes to the race environment. His research has been featured in numerous general media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Time.com, National Public Radio, the Rush Limbaugh show, CNN, the NBC Today Show, MSNBC, Charlotte Talks radio show, Revista Epoca (a Brazilian weekly magazine), and on Australian National Radio.

Dr. Lightfoot is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a Certified Exercise Specialist, a Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist, a past President of the Southeast Regional Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine, and a past member of the Board of Trustees for the American College of Sports Medicine. He has been named Teacher of the Year twice at two different universities, was awarded the Henry Montoye Research Scholar Award by the Southeast American College of Sports Medicine in 2010 and named 2010 Alumnus of the Year of the University of Louisiana Monroe in Kinesiology

PAMA is excited to have both speakers join us in Snowmass next July and hope you will be there too!

PAMA joins the University of Illinois at Chicago to present aunique experience for professionals in the arts, healthcare,education, or related fields who are interested in exploring the arts,health, and safety of artists in Cuba.

Dates for Health and Safety in the Arts in Cuba are January 27 – February 3, 2013. Program directors are David Hinkamp, MD, MPH, UIC, and Marc Brodsky, MD, PAMA.

Check out the new blog added to the Athletes and the Arts website at www.athletesandthearts.com. Titled Monday Morning Musings and update bi-weekly, the blog offers the best thinking out there regarding the connection between athletes and performers. See what is new this week!

The international committee of PAMA is pleased to announce a new resource available to all PAMA members and the entire PAM community around the world. The PAM Wiki is located at www.mdw.ac.at/I113/A3/PAM-WIKI/ and we invite you to log in (using your last name and the default password: 12345x) and change your password in the admin section. Have a look around while you're there and feel free to contribute or create any new pages you think might be necessary. This WIKI is designed to be a resource for the PAM community and we hope it continues to grow organically going forward to serve that purpose – think Wikipedia for the PAM community.

Thank you to Patrice Berque for putting this together and to the international liaison committee for their work.

PAMA has many diverse and active committees for you all to get involved – please contact us if you would like to participate on any of these committees:

Applications for our Healthy Dancer Canada Executive and Committees are now being accepted. Please spread the word and we look forward to receiving your application by November 16, 2012.

For more information see the attached Call for Applications or visit our website at www.healthydancercanada.org under "Get Involved."