27 European countries represented at prestigious MDS school 

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Summer MDS-ES School for Young Neurologists took place in Brno, Czech Republic on September 21-23, 2023, chaired by prof. Irena Rektorová. Altogether, 14 faculty members and 51 students from 27 different countries in the European Section participated in this very intensive in-person course.

Then, half of the course participants were divided into groups to take part in 3 parallel workshops with a lot of discussion focused on DBS programming (Marek Baláž), electrophysiology (Martina Bočková), and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (Irena Rektorová). At the same time, the other half of participants and the rest of the faculty members examined five interesting movement disorders patients in an outpatient clinic and rotated in 5 separate rooms. The aim was to appreciate the art of examination performed by expert faculty. 

The second day was fully dedicated to hyperkinetic movement disorders. Robert Jech gave the first lecture of the day on dystonia diagnosis and management. Ivan Rektor discussed myoclonus, and Evžen Růžička provided an update on tics. This was followed by lectures focused on chorea (Alessandro Tessitore), tremor (Martina Bočková), and paroxysmal movement disorders (Matěj Škorvánek). After the lunch, DBS for hyperkinetic movement disorders was covered by Elena Moro, and drug-induced movement disorders were presented by Pille Taba. In the afternoon, a similar schedule of workshops (presented by Elena Moro, Martina Bočková, and Irena Rektorová) and live in-person examination of movement disorders patients by the faculty experts was provided.  

The day finished with a video dinner where faculty members presented their interesting cases. The discussion was led by Kailash Bhatia, who is not only a brilliant clinician but also a great entertainer.  

The last half-day was devoted to special topics like functional movement disorders (Michele Tinazzi), treatable movement disorders (Matěj Škorvánek), and imaging (Alessandro Tessitore). The last session was given by students who presented their cases. Three winners were selected by the course participants, and awarded free admission to the next MDS Congress in Philadelphia.   

The whole course was a great success, and many thanks go to all speakers, sponsors, members of the local movement disorders center at St. Anne’s University hospital in Brno and to MDS-ES, and namely Heather Vitale for perfect course organization! 

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