ESH Summer School in Opio en Provence, France – An event to remember!
The ESH Summer School 2024 took place from 15 to 20 September in the beautiful little town of Opio en Provence near Nice in France.
After the wonderful Italian event last year, it was a challenge to organise a similar or even better programme. In the end, we decided to keep the original DNA of the Summer School, with time for social interaction and exchange, different educational formats, and access for our young colleagues to internationally renowned experts throughout the week in the relaxed atmosphere of Club Med in Opio.
The participants experienced classical lectures as well as practical workshops and interactive sessions. To strengthen their presentation skills, they could choose to present one of their research projects or interesting cases in a session entitled ‘My Research Project in 180s’ or in the form of a digital poster. The third opportunity to participate was to present an aspect of the 2024 ESH Clinical Practice Guidelines. 3 minutes is a very short time for a presentation, but everyone mastered this challenge with flying colours.
But time and competition weren’t just part of the course programme – the school kicked off with a pétanque tournament, a traditional French outdoor game similar to boules. And it turned out to be the best start a Summer School has ever had, with lots of fun!
During an excursion, the participants enjoyed a guided tour of the art collection of the ‘Fondation Maeght’. The foundation owns one of the largest collections of 20th century paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints in Europe, with works by Bonnard, Chagall, Kandinsky, Miró, Matisse and many others. The trip ended with a visit to the art village of Saint-Paul de Vence with its beautiful historic and picturesque alleyways.
Traditionally, one of the dinners takes place outside the location of the Summer School. The local organising committee found the perfect restaurant to experience French hospitality and the delicious food of the Côte D’Azur. This evening of incredible food, music, dancing and lots of laughter will hopefully be remembered forever.
We very much hope that all 64 participants from 35 countries will travel home with new ideas, growing ambitions and a bunch of new friends.
See you all at the ESH 2025 Meeting in Milan!
Jana Brguljan & Atul Pathak
Also on behalf of the local organizing committee: Marilucy Lopez-Sublet, Dominique Guerrot
and Michel Azizi, Michel Burnier and Alexandre Persu
